The Department of Justice and Comey have said all along that the solution they sought in breaking into Farook’s phone would only work on this one phone – the 5c running iOS 9. “We tell Apple, they’re going to fix it, and we’re back where we started from”, he said. “But look, as silly as that may sound, we may end up there”.
Advertisement
The government is considering whether it should disclose to Apple the flaw that aided the hack: “We just haven’t decided yet”, he said at the OH college’s Center for the Study of American Democracy.
Farook and wife Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people during the attacks in December 2015.
Director Comey revealed more information about the tool’s source on Wednesday.
“This case raised issues which deserve a national conversation about our civil liberties, and our collective security and privacy”.
“It’s a bit of a technological corner case, because the world has moved on to 6’s”. He asserted that the tool will be would be “closely protected” and the government authorities will use it “lawfully and appropriately'”.
The government then “purchased a tool that allows court authorized access to the phone”, Comey said. The day before its court hearing with Apple, the Federal Bureau of Investigation dropped the case and said it had been contacted by an outside party with a method of hacking that didn’t require Apple’s help. But the tech giant refused to help the government saying that they will not compromise with the security of all iPhone users.
The FBI director did say that he is confident that the company’s “motivations align with ours”, and will continue to keep the hack a secret.
Comey’s declaration on Wednesday doesn’t clarify how exactly they managed to hack into the iPhone in order to retrieve significant information for the ongoing investigation.
Which makes it very scary for those who are still using an iPhone 5C.
Advertisement
Last week, a survey of more than a dozen local law enforcement agencies, based on data gathered by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and USA TODAY, found that investigators have been blocked from the contents of more than 1,000 smartphones and other devices in recent months.
