FBI director suggests agency paid more than $1 million to access iPhone
FBI director James Comey^^
FBI director James Comey hinted at an event in London on Thursday that the FBI paid more than $1 million (£700,000) to break into the locked iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino attackers.
Mr Comey was asked during a question-and-answer session at an Aspen Security Forum event how much the FBI paid for the method from an unidentified third-party to access the phone.
He did not give a precise number but said it was "more than I will make in the remainder of this job, which is seven years and four months, for sure." He added that he thought the payment was "worth it."
According to figures from the FBI and the US Office of Management and Budget, Mr Comey's annual salary as of January 2015 was $183,300. Without a raise or bonus, Comey will make $1.34 million over the remainder of his job.
That suggests the FBI paid the largest ever publicised amount for a hacking technique, given the most previously paid was $1 million by US information security company Zerodium to break into phones.
The Justice Department last month revealed that an entity outside the government had approached it with a method that could be used to open the phone used by Syed Farook, who along with his wife killed 14 people in the December attacks before dying in a police shootout.
The revelation came after a federal magistrate had directed Apple Inc to help the FBI hack into the phone. The FBI had said that it wanted access to the phone as part of its investigation into the attacks.
Federal officials have said that the method from the third party was successful, though they haven't publicly revealed what it entailed. Mr Comey said the FBI will be able to use software used on the San Bernardino phone on other 5C iPhones running IOS 9 software.
^^Syed Farook's (right) iPhone 5C is in the FBI's hands.
What did the FBI want?
In February 2016 The FBI took Apple to court to ask for help with accessing the San Bernardino gunman Syed Farook’s iPhone 5c to aid its investigation into the killing, which left 14 people in California dead. The organisation said it could not unlock the phone’s passcode, nor read any of the communications data stored on the phone because of Apple’s end-to-end encryption. At the end of March, it confirmed it had been able to hack the smartphone itself, free from Apple's assistance.
What did the court say?
The US district court ruled that Apple must help the FBI in its investigation by creating a special version of its iOS software for this one iPhone 5c and by cracking its passcode. Apple disputed the order on the grounds of its commitment to customer privacy.
Why did Apple refuse to help the FBI?
Apple doesn’t currently have a key that will unlock the phone and has refused to create one for fear that it could be exploited by criminals and governments alike to access personal information stored on the secure devices. Tim Cook, Apple chief executive, said that creating a master key would set a “dangerous precedent”.
Why is it so important?
The case has riled Silicon Valley. Facebook, WhatsApp and Google have all come out in support of Apple, while Bill Gates has sided with the FBI. It comes as a separate debate over backdoors for end-to-end encryption is going on the UK with Theresa May’s Investigatory Powers Bill. Apple has called for the formation of a US Government committee that will look at the ramifications of the case in terms of law enforcement, national security, privacy and personal freedoms.
posted from Bloggeroid
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