Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

You are here: MacNN Forums > News > Mac News > FBI reportedly didn't pay more than $1M for San Bernardino iPhone hack

FBI reportedly didn't pay more than $1M for San Bernardino iPhone hack
Thread Tools
NewsPoster
MacNN Staff
Join Date: Jul 2012
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 29, 2016, 09:36 AM
 
The FBI may not have spent as much to unlock the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone 5c than previously claimed by the director of the bureau, according to a report. A previous suggestion by Director James Comey that put the price of the hack in excess of $1.3 million dollars is being declared as an over-inflated number, with numerous government sources of a report putting the figure somewhere below $1 million.

Last week, Comey said the FBI paid "a lot, more than I will make in the remainder of this job, which is seven years and four months, for sure." Based on the FBI director's salary of $185,000, this theoretically puts the price at more than $1.35 million.

Sources of Reuters indicates the figure claimed is far higher than what was actually paid, though an exact cost is unknown, aside from it being less than $1 million. The fee was a one-time-only charge for the process, which the FBI now has physical possession of rather than the contractor and could reuse to unlock other iPhone 5c handsets it comes into contact with, but the agency is said by sources to not know how the mechanism works. It is also suggested that the contractor's identity is being kept a secret from even the FBI director himself.

The FBI is still working with the contents of the iPhone as part of the investigation into the shooter and co-conspirators. Sources say the FBI is trying to use the data to figure out what happened for an 18-minute window on the day of the shootings that investigators have so far failed to account for.
     
Inkling
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Seattle
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 29, 2016, 10:45 AM
 
I'm growing tired of how both Apple and the FBI have been grandstanding in this dispute. Privacy versus law enforcment issues are best are best balanced out in court rather than treated as absolutes. And Apple is going to tick off a heck of a lot of customers if they make iPhones unbreakable in any context. Not every situation is a law enforcement dispute.
Author of Untangling Tolkien and Chesterton on War and Peace
     
Mike Wuerthele
Managing Editor
Join Date: Jul 2012
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 29, 2016, 11:04 AM
 
"Not every situation is a law enforcement dispute."

And for the rest of them, I want as unbreakable encryption on my phone as possible.
     
Flying Meat
Senior User
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: SF
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 29, 2016, 03:40 PM
 
If I know going in (prior to purchase) that extraordinary (very expensive) measures must be taken to recover my data from a device, I'm going to accept that. My data should not be solely on that device (or solely on any device) if I'm truly concerned about that data loss.

If Apple makes their iPhones "unbreakable", and you want a "breakable" device, then buy something else. Easy-peezy.
     
chimaera
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Apr 2007
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 29, 2016, 05:38 PM
 
I thought $1.3 million was excessive for finding nothing. Going under a million though makes it all worthwhile.

/sarcasm
     
Steve Wilkinson
Senior User
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Prince George, BC, Canada
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 1, 2016, 10:38 PM
 
Originally Posted by chimaera View Post
I thought $1.3 million was excessive for finding nothing. Going under a million though makes it all worthwhile.

/sarcasm
LOL. Look on the bright side though... I think the DoD can't find something like $600B+ because... Cobol.
------
Steve Wilkinson
Web designer | Christian apologist
cgWerks | TilledSoil.org
     
   
Thread Tools
 
Forum Links
Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Top
Privacy Policy
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:18 AM.
All contents of these forums © 1995-2017 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Branding + Design: www.gesamtbild.com
vBulletin v.3.8.8 © 2000-2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.,