FBI paid hackers for tool to break into iPhone, director says, but it doesn’t work on recent models

The FBI paid for the tool it used to break into a dead terrorist’s iPhone and is considering whether to tell Apple Inc how it was done, FBI Director James Comey said.

Comey also said that the hacking tool doesn’t work on recent models of the iPhone.

The US dropped a legal case against Apple last month after it succeeded in accessing the data on an iPhone 5c used by Syed Rizwan Farook, who with his wife carried out the deadly December attack in San Bernardino, California. Comey disclosed during a speech Wednesday at Kenyon College in Ohio that the FBI paid for the tool to break into the phone, although he didn’t provide further details.

“The FBI is very good at keeping secrets, and the people 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,” Comey said. The FBI hasn’t said who provided the hack.

Discussions are continuing about whether to provide Apple with details about how the hack was carried out, Comey said. “That’s an interesting conversation because we tell Apple and they’re going to fix it, and then we’re back where we started from,” he said. “As silly as that may sound, we may end up there. We just haven’t’ decided yet.”

However, the FBI chief said it doesn’t appear the tool will work on phones beyond the iPhone 5c. “We have a tool that works on a narrow slice of phones,” he said. “If we decide not to disclose it to Apple, it’s still quite perishable and it will disappear if Apple changes its software in some way.”

The FBI is also weighing whether to provide the tool to state and local law enforcement agencies that have iPhones they can’t get into, Comey said. He noted that the tool could be jeopardised if it has to be revealed to defence attorneys in criminal court cases.