FBI paid for the Apple iPhone key, says director James Comey
Probably got it off the internet
MAN YOU CAN TRUST, FBI director James Comey, has revealed that the infamous means of getting into a locked Apple iPhone was a paid-for solution.
He went pretty mum after that. Comey delivered the revelation during a Q&A session at Kenyon College in Ohio, according to a report on Fox News. We have asked the FBI to confirm this, but our email does not seem to be getting through to the organisation. We cannot help feeling that this is ironic.
Comey's comments suggest that all parties will toe this line and that no-one will break cover and reveal the who and the how. Perhaps he hasn't heard of the internet.
"The people that we bought this from, I know a fair amount about them and I have a high degree of confidence that they are very good at protecting it, and their motivations align with ours," he said, according to Fox News.
This does not confirm or deny that the source is the Israeli company Cellebrite that we all thought it was, or squash any speculation from at least one wild eyed dude that it was the ghost of Steve Jobs riding a unicorn that did it.
Unless magic was involved we are going to assume that software was the solution to the FBI's phone problem. The department is obviously making the most of it, as it is already offering to unlock iPhones on demand via its Little Rock field office for a case in Arkansas.
However, Comey admitted that the tool does not work on all iPhone models. "This doesn't work on [an iPhone] 6S, doesn't work on a 5S, and so we have a tool that works on a narrow slice of phones," he said.
Those other models probably cost extra to unlock.
He went pretty mum after that. Comey delivered the revelation during a Q&A session at Kenyon College in Ohio, according to a report on Fox News. We have asked the FBI to confirm this, but our email does not seem to be getting through to the organisation. We cannot help feeling that this is ironic.
Comey's comments suggest that all parties will toe this line and that no-one will break cover and reveal the who and the how. Perhaps he hasn't heard of the internet.
"The people that we bought this from, I know a fair amount about them and I have a high degree of confidence that they are very good at protecting it, and their motivations align with ours," he said, according to Fox News.
This does not confirm or deny that the source is the Israeli company Cellebrite that we all thought it was, or squash any speculation from at least one wild eyed dude that it was the ghost of Steve Jobs riding a unicorn that did it.
Unless magic was involved we are going to assume that software was the solution to the FBI's phone problem. The department is obviously making the most of it, as it is already offering to unlock iPhones on demand via its Little Rock field office for a case in Arkansas.
However, Comey admitted that the tool does not work on all iPhone models. "This doesn't work on [an iPhone] 6S, doesn't work on a 5S, and so we have a tool that works on a narrow slice of phones," he said.
Those other models probably cost extra to unlock.
FBI director says government 'purchased a tool' to access San Bernardino gunman's phone
The head of the FBI said Wednesday that the government had "purchased
a tool" enabling investigators to access an iPhone belonging to San
Bernardino gunman Syed Farook.
The disclosure by James Comey in a speech at Ohio's Kenyon College was a departure from previous official statements, which had been vague in explaining the details of how the government broke into the phone last month.
The Justice Department had only said that a third party had "demonstrated" an alternate method of unlocking the device to the FBI the evening before federal prosecutors filed a motion to delay a court hearing on the matter.
"The people that we bought this [tool] from – I know a fair amount about them and I have a high degree of confidence that they are very good at protecting it, and their motivations align with ours," Comey said during a question-and-answer period following his talk.
Comey added that the technology only works on an iPhone 5C, the type of phone used by Farook.
"This doesn’t work on [an iPhone] 6S, doesn’t work in a 5S, and so we have a tool that works on a narrow slice of phones," he added.
Neither the Justice Department nor the FBI could immediately provide further details.
The exact method the FBI used to access information on Farook's phone is a mystery that has puzzled Apple software engineers and outside experts alike. After the FBI hacked into the phone, Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym vacated her order compelling Apple to assist the FBI in hacking their phone, which also took away any obvious legal avenues Apple might have used to learn how the FBI did it.
A senior law enforcement official told The Associated Press last month that the FBI managed to defeat an Apple security feature that threatened to delete the phone's contents if the FBI failed to enter the correct passcode combination after 10 tries. That allowed the government to repeatedly and continuously test passcodes in what's known as a brute-force attack until the right code is entered and the phone is unlocked.
It wasn't clear how the FBI dealt with a related Apple security feature that introduces increasing time delays between guesses.
At the time, Comey said with those features removed, the FBI could break into the phone in 26 minutes.
Farook died with his wife in a gun battle with police after they killed 14 people Dec. 2 in San Bernardino, Calif. The iPhone, issued to Farook by his employer, the county health department, was found in a vehicle the day after the shooting.
A senior FBI official told The Wall Street Journal Tuesday that investigators were still analyzing the phone and had not decided whether to disclose what they had found.
Fox News' Matthew Dean and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
The disclosure by James Comey in a speech at Ohio's Kenyon College was a departure from previous official statements, which had been vague in explaining the details of how the government broke into the phone last month.
The Justice Department had only said that a third party had "demonstrated" an alternate method of unlocking the device to the FBI the evening before federal prosecutors filed a motion to delay a court hearing on the matter.
"The people that we bought this [tool] from – I know a fair amount about them and I have a high degree of confidence that they are very good at protecting it, and their motivations align with ours," Comey said during a question-and-answer period following his talk.
Comey added that the technology only works on an iPhone 5C, the type of phone used by Farook.
"This doesn’t work on [an iPhone] 6S, doesn’t work in a 5S, and so we have a tool that works on a narrow slice of phones," he added.
Neither the Justice Department nor the FBI could immediately provide further details.
The exact method the FBI used to access information on Farook's phone is a mystery that has puzzled Apple software engineers and outside experts alike. After the FBI hacked into the phone, Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym vacated her order compelling Apple to assist the FBI in hacking their phone, which also took away any obvious legal avenues Apple might have used to learn how the FBI did it.
A senior law enforcement official told The Associated Press last month that the FBI managed to defeat an Apple security feature that threatened to delete the phone's contents if the FBI failed to enter the correct passcode combination after 10 tries. That allowed the government to repeatedly and continuously test passcodes in what's known as a brute-force attack until the right code is entered and the phone is unlocked.
It wasn't clear how the FBI dealt with a related Apple security feature that introduces increasing time delays between guesses.
At the time, Comey said with those features removed, the FBI could break into the phone in 26 minutes.
Farook died with his wife in a gun battle with police after they killed 14 people Dec. 2 in San Bernardino, Calif. The iPhone, issued to Farook by his employer, the county health department, was found in a vehicle the day after the shooting.
A senior FBI official told The Wall Street Journal Tuesday that investigators were still analyzing the phone and had not decided whether to disclose what they had found.
Fox News' Matthew Dean and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Credit to theinquirer
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