It was in 2014, the release date of Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus when the Cupertino-based tech giant began to include an encryption technology that locked out government agencies. The iPhone 4S of Mevlut Mert Altintas, which authorities recovered after the assassination, has a four-digit passcode that locked the smartphone which has a code that needs to be cracked, according to Mac Reports.

It was in 2014, the release date of Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus when the Cupertino-based tech giant began to include an encryption technology that locked out government agencies. The iPhone 4S of Mevlut Mert Altintas, which authorities recovered after the assassination, has a four-digit passcode that locked the smartphone which has a code that needs to be cracked, according to Mac Reports.

The issue of cracking the code of smartphones is once again a hot topic after the Dec. 19 assassination of Andrey Karlov, Russian ambassador to Turkey. Russia and Turkey are attempting to crack the code of the iPhone 4S of the gunman, Mevlut Mert Altintas.

Turkey Seeks Apple’s Help

Authorities from the two countries have difficulty cracking the code, although there are conflicting reports if Russian and Turkish authorities have sought the assistance of Apple, Dailycaller reports. The hesitancy could be due to the reluctance of Apple to help U.S. government agencies crack codes in the past even in situations when the phone belongs to suspects in major cases.

A recent one when Apple turned down the request of the FBI to crack the code of the iPhone that Syed Farook, one of the San Bernardino attack shooters, used. In explaining the decision not to help the FBI, Apple CEO Tim Cook said it was to defend civil liberties, The Guardian reports. In spite of Apple’s lack of cooperation, the FBI successfully unlocked the iPhone 5C of Rizwan Farook, the other shooter.

Russia Sends Hacker Team To Turkey

Latest reports say that Russia, which has some of the world's best hacking experts, sent a special technical team to Turkey to crack the code of the iPhone 4S after Turkey contacted Apple but reportedly did not respond to Turkey’s request. According to Mac Reports, the Russian hackers failed to unlock the gunman’s phone, but they were able to retrieve some data from Mevlut Mert Atlintas’ iPhone 4S.

The source: M & A