AppleInsider Staff
The unlocking procedure used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to break into an iPhone 5c at the center of the San Bernardino case cannot be used on new devices, the bureau's director said on Wednesday.
Comey told a group of students and educators at Kenyon College in Ohio that his department had "purchased a tool" from a third party to unlock the iPhone in question, according to CNN Money. Though he stopped short of revealing the exact process, he did note that it would not work on more modern handsets.
"This doesn't work on 6S, doesn't work on a 5S, and so we have a tool that works on a narrow slice of phones," Comey said.
Discussing Apple's request that the bureau unveil its method, Comey was noncommittal but said he was worried about losing what little access the bureau does have.
"We tell Apple, then they're going to fix it, then we're back where we started from," he said. "We may end up there, we just haven't decided yet."
Since the FBI revealed its success late last month, most speculation regarding their method has centered around the so-called "IP Box" that first appeared last spring. That tool — which retails for less than $300 — latches onto a susceptible iPhone's power circuitry and enters PINs over USB.
When a wrong guess is detected, the tool aggressively cuts power to the iPhone's logic board before the guess is recorded, defeating the 10-try limit.
Apple is believed to have patched this hole in older iPhones with iOS 8.1.1; as the iPhone 5c in question is thought to be running iOS 9, the FBI has either chosen a different method or has purchased the device from a company that has discovered an as-yet unreported flaw in later software.
Beginning with the iPhone 5S, PIN guesses are managed in the hardware Secure Enclave, rendering such an attack useless.
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37 Comments
So the market value of 5c's just tanked. Can we trust Comey? Why should we. He's lied the entire time and continues to present the worst side of a secretive and potentially corrupt government organization. I watched Truth 2015 last night, the attack on CBS's 60 Minutes crew (Dan Rather, Mary Mapes), and it's similar to this witch attack on Apple except both Republicans and Democrats are attacking Apple using hearsay and a lack of understanding and fear mongering to get what they want while making Apple look real bad. The FBI will never help Apple or announce what was found (or wasn't) on the phone unless it serves their needs. The fact they haven't said they've found anything worth while tells me there wasn't anything but the FBI needs time to come up with a story to CTA's. I'd like to know if the Israeli company can actually crack anything newer than a 5s. Apple has a presence in Israel and should use pressure to get the Israeli government to force talks between Apple and that company so Apple knows of any vulnerabilities they can find. I'm sure the Israeli's want secure phones as much as US citizens want them.
;) Just mentioned this is the other thread.
"We tell Apple, then they're going to fix it, then we're back where we started from,". Right back where you started from? You mean back to only being able to unlock older iPhones that don't use a Secure Enclave? Seems like Apple has ALREADY fixed it, starting with the 5S and A7 from several years ago.
Basically, this is a useless hack.
Comey says the this technique does not work on modern devices.
This is different than saying that the FBI cannot hack modern devices with different techniques.
Headline fail.
Didn't we already know this?