--- description: The FBI is till stumped on how to unlock the encrypted cellphone of one of the San Bernardino shooters who killed 14 people last year. title: The FBI Still Can't Unlock San Bernardino Shooter's Encrypted Cellphone image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # FBI Still Can't Unlock San Bernardino Shooter's Encrypted Cellphone  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 10, 2016 12:54 AM CUT  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 10, 2016 12:54 AM CUT Investigators are still stumped on [how to unlock the encrypted cellphone](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/02/09/fbi-says-san-bernardino-terrorists-phone-still-locked-due-encryption/80074292/ "undefined") of one of the San Bernardino shooters who killed 14 people in California last year, the head of the FBI said Tuesday. The device may help officials better understand why [Syed Rizwan Farook](http://time.com/4135049/san-bernardino-shooting-psychology/ "undefined") and his wife Tashfeen Malik [opened fire at a holiday party](http://time.com/4133841/what-to-know-san-bernardino/ "undefined") for county employees at the Inland Regional Center in December. It would also unveil communications the couple had before they were killed by authorities after the attack. “We still have one of those killer’s phones that we haven’t been able to open,” FBI Director James Comey said at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, according to USA Today. “It’s been over two months now. We are still working on it.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4214931/san-bernardino-fbi-cell-phone/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4214931/san-bernardino-fbi-cell-phone/"},"headline":"FBI Still Can't Unlock San Bernardino Shooter's Encrypted Cellphone","datePublished":"2016-02-10T00:54:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:12:43.993Z","description":"\"We are still working on it\"","url":"https://time.com/4214931/san-bernardino-fbi-cell-phone/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4214931/san-bernardino-fbi-cell-phone/","name":"FBI Still Can't Unlock San Bernardino Shooter's Encrypted Cellphone"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Raw: FBI Director Says Social Media Changed Game for ISIS","description":"FBI Director James Comey","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/hSTf4jpe/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-12-17T15:22:46.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hSTf4jpe.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4214931/san-bernardino-fbi-cell-phone/","duration":"PT1M43S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4214931/san-bernardino-fbi-cell-phone/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```