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India wants the tech used to unlock the San Bernardino iPhone

The country's Forensic Science Laboratory is trying to purchase the technology from Cellebrite.

REUTERS/Stephen Lam

Israeli forensics company Cellebrite helped the FBI access the contents of a suspect's iPhone 5c following the shooting in San Bernardino last year. Now India is in talks to buy the company's tech that will allow it to unlock phones and other devices. The Economic Times reports that India's Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) is purchasing the tool and should have it in hand within a month. What's more, the FSL says India will be "a global hub for cases where law enforcement is unable to break into phones." In other words, the India government will lend a hand to other countries that need to crack encrypted devices.

The Economic Times reports that the Indian government has already enlisted help from Cellebrite in "a few cases," but now it will have the encryption cracking tech on hand to use as needed. Details are scarce on if the country will be the exclusive owner of the technology or under what circumstances it will make the resource available to other governments around the world. It's also not a done deal yet, but FSL officials seem confident the government will complete the purchase soon. There's no word on how much the transaction will cost, but the FBI paid Cellebrite over $1 million for its services in the San Bernardino case.