Experts say the feds will have a hard time unlocking Adams’ encrypted cell phone

Breaking into Mayor Eric Adams’ encrypted cellphone will be a difficult task for federal authorities, experts say, according to The Post.

Hizzoner changed his cellphone password just a day before the FBI seized his electronic devices on November 7 – claiming he did so to “preserve the contents of his phone for the investigation.” He says he then forgot the new password, which resulted in the phone being locked, according to a federal bombshell indictment unsealed Thursday.

According to Michael Alcazar, a retired New York Police Department detective and John Jay adjunct professor, a locked phone is at least a “speed bump” in a federal investigation.

“I think technology-savvy investigators would be able to get into the phone anyway. . . But it will slow down the investigation,” Alcazar said.

A federal judge would have to sign a search warrant before federal IT investigators could try to break into the locked device — and it’s unclear whether they will be able to do so, said Jefferey Greco, a criminal defense attorney in Manhattan.

In 2016, Apple and the FBI argued over whether the tech company should provide backdoor access to users’ devices when the feds deemed it necessary for their investigations, but the case was dropped when prosecutors said the feds could find another way to encrypt iPhones. that.

After the 2019 shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, federal authorities managed to gain access to the encrypted iPhone of the shooter, Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, without Apple’s help, but did not disclose their methods.

Historically, law enforcement efforts to get tech companies to cooperate with investigations by unlocking encrypted devices have proven “extremely difficult,” Greco said.

“Apple will say, ‘That’s between you and the user. We don’t get involved. We protect our users’ right to privacy.’

“If (Adams’) phone is in a place where there’s a treasure trove of evidence and (investigators) can’t get to it, this could be the only thing that saves him from going to jail,” Greco warned.

This month, FBI agents seized the phones of former Police Commissioner Edward Cabana, Department of Education Chancellor David Banks and Adams’ chief of staff Ingrid Lewis-Martin. On Thursday morning, the feds collected another of Adams’ phones during a raid on Gracie Mansion.