Comey’s annual salary is at $183,300, and without raises or bonuses, will result in earnings of $1.34 million.
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“To my mind, that would be a regrettable place to be”, Comey said.
The solution also works only on an Apple 5c, not on later versions of Apple’s iPhone such as the 6 and 6s, making the price even less practical. And I said, no.
“I get that people care about this investigation, and so we’re working very hard to ensure it’s well and promptly”. “It’s a lot of money, but there’s nothing to compare it to”.
The FBI director serves a 10-year term, though Comey’s predecessor, Robert S. Mueller III, served for 12 years after Congress approved a request from President Obama to extend his tenure.
The FBI last month abruptly dropped the case when it was approached by an unidentified third party that had found a way to circumvent the phone’s security features.
Zero days can sell for anywhere between $500 to more than $1 million, depending on the nature of the vulnerability, the number of devices it affects, and other factors.
But so far, despite the FBI’s attempts to put a positive spin on it, cracking into the phone hasn’t really given investigators any real new information.
Earlier this month, Comey revealed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had purchased “a tool” from a private company but would not elaborate on the company or the services provided.
Comey said the litigation in the case had inspired a “marketplace around the world” for people to break into an Apple 5C running IOS 9, the phone Farook used. “It was, in my view, worth it”, Comey said.
“There are over a billion users of WhatsApp, and there are a significant number of terrorists and criminals who use WhatsApp”, Comey added.
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“We have a problem where all of us share a set of values that are in conflict”.
