An Israeli company has succeeded in helping the FBI to hack the phone of a terrorist who carried out a deadly mass shooting in California last year.

Terrorist couple Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik killed 14 and injured 22 before being shot dead during the attack on a San Bernardino County Department of Public Health training event and holiday party in December.

The FBI asked Israeli technology firm Cellebrite for assistance after its battle to force Apple to open Farook’s phone got bogged down over legal arguments.

Yesterday, US authorities announced in a document handed to California’s district court that “the government has now successfully accessed the data stored on Farook's iPhone”.

The news that Cellebrite was helping the FBI was revealed on March 21, meaning that it seemingly took the Israeli company a week to hack the mobile.

Speaking to the JC in 2013, co-chief executive Yossi Carmil explained his company’s capabilities, saying: “Our Universal Forensic Extraction Device (UFED) is able to retrieve data from a mobile phone — from the technology of a suspicious person.

“We recognised the need to create software capable of satisfying law enforcement needs.”

He added that “someone could think that if they press delete the message is gone — but it’s not the case”.

Both Cellebrite and the FBI have refused to comment.