FBI confirms its gained access to the phone of Trump's shooter

The phone owned by Thomas Crooks, the man who shot and wounded former US president Donald Trump on July 13, has had his phone seized by the FBI, and now the US authorities have said they have gained access to the device.

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July 13 marked the failed assassination attempt of former US president Donald Trump, who dropped to the floor after a bullet wounded his ear. Authorities identified the shooter as Thomas Crooks, a 20-year-old registered Republican, and the FBI later announced it acquired his phone.

The now-deceased Crooks didn't leave behind any obvious motive for his actions against the former president, which is why the FBI is hoping its newfound access to his phone may reveal his reasoning behind his actions, if Crooks was working alone or as part of a bigger group, and if there are any other attempts such as the one at the Pennsylvania rally planned for the future.

Authorities said on Sunday they were unable to unlock Crooks' phone and sent it off to Quantico, Virginia, for further analysis. The statement has now been updated, and the FBI has gained access through the use of hardware and software techniques designed to exploit vulnerabilities within the operating system of the device.

If you thought the FBI could just unlock any encrypted device, you thought wrong as authorities have in the past battled with technology companies to provide them with backdoor access to devices operating systems. Those requests were promptly denied, at least in the case of phone operating systems.