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Unlocking method works on ‘narrow slice’ of iPhones — FBI director

In particular, he said that it doesn’t work with iPhone 5s or the newest models.

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The FBI asked for help from Apple to access the information on Farook’s iPhone because a security feature within the phone allows only 10 tries to retrieve a password before the information on the phone is erased.

“We’re having discussions within the government about, okay, so should we tell Apple what the flaw is that was found?”

Comey told CNN that he’s not sure if the Federal Bureau of Investigation is going to fill Apple in on the secret way into the iPhones, since he believes Apple will ultimately “fix it, then we’re back where we stated from”.

“We’re now doing an analysis of that data, as we would in any other type of criminal terrorism investigation, ” Mr. Baker said, adding: “That means we would follow logical leads”.

Farook, who died with his wife in a gun battle with police after they killed 14 people in December in San Bernardino. Since the US government’s insistence that Apple agree to unlock the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters, the tables have turned.

The FBI frequently receives requests from local departments to help with cellphone forensics, including getting into locked phones and dealing with deleted and encrypted content or damaged hardware.

Last week, the Department of Justice unexpectedly revealed that it was able to successfully hack into the phone without Apple’s assistance.

The San Bernardino iPhone is actually an iPhone 5c that runs iOS 9. This doesn’t work in 6 or 5s. But the same technique probably won’t work on your phone.

“I can never be completely confident, but I’m pretty confident about that”.

Investigators have hoped that the phone might help them answer two lingering questions: where the couple went in the minutes after the shooting, and whether any unidentified people in the United States or overseas may have been involved in the plot.

He only identified this group as “someone outside the government” and said “their motivations align with ours”.

At the Kenyon College in Ohio, James Comey in his speech on Wednesday said that the iPhone 5C hack was possible due to their ability to get into the phone’s “technological corner case”.

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Comey revealed additional information about the source of the tool Wednesday.

FBI analyst