FBI paid at least $1.3 million for zero-day to get into San Bernardino iPhone

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/04/fbi-paid-at-least-1-3m-for-zero-day-to-get-into-san-bernardino-iphone/

"FBI Director James Comey suggested to a conference in London that his agency paid more than $1.3 million to gray-hat hackers who were able to unlock the iPhone 5C that was used by Syed Farook Rizwan, the dead terrorist who masterminded the attack in San Bernardino, California, in December 2015.

According to Reuters, Comey was asked Thursday how much the FBI paid for the technique that eventually allowed investigators to access the locked phone.

"A lot. More than I will make in the remainder of this job, which is seven years and four months for sure," Comey said. "But it was, in my view, worth it."

Reuters noted that as of January 2015, Comey makes $183,300 per year--and assuming no raises or bonuses, he will make $1.34 million during that remaining tenure.".


Comments


[23 Points] BlackGoatSemen:

I think that after Apple said "no" to the feds, some jackass(or asses), that worked for Apple came to them, and said; "hey mister secret agent man, we got her zero-day shits right here. Just give us $10mill.". The feds counter, " Nah bro. How 'bout 1.3mill, and we tell the press we hired freelance grey-hat hackers." "Oh cool! Now, can you somehow shut down Nucleus Market too?" "Uhhmm... I don't see why not.". " Alright!! We have a deal!" "Alright. Where do I send the bitcoins?"


[14 Points] None:

With my skills I could SQL inject the new iPhone via my penis. The fingerprint scanner would not stand a chance against my magical fingerprint scanner. Ha, suck it!


[12 Points] InTheDitch:

If this is true, after all that hassle and money spent, I hope there's nothing on that phone of any value to them. Fucking wankers. Would be funny if they went through all that just to find out the phone is just full of pics of the dude's butthole.


[2 Points] Vendor_BBMC:

I think this is bollocks, a story concocted to try to save Apple's reputation. If the combined cryptography power of the FBI / NCA can't do it without erasing the phone, how can some script kiddie?

They must think we were born yesterday. Now it means they can decrypt any iphone.


[2 Points] rmxz:

What might be his purpose for announcing that in that way?

Sounds to me like he's sending the message:

"If you develop iPhone apps, please try to add a back-door; and if you already did, please contact us because we can make it worth your while. We pay 'more than [you] will earn in a lifetime'."


[2 Points] _johngalt:

How did they find the zero-day? I'm assuming it wasn't on the open market for sale for 1mil. Was someone just sitting on it?


[1 Points] you-are-a-cop:

Of course the FBI overpaid for this.

Could have been done for $5k, tops.

But then again this story is most likely bullshit.


[1 Points] 099K:

So breaking into an iphone 5c is like breaking into an iphone 5? Same hardware for the most part. I'm sure The newer iphones are more secure from this 0day.


[1 Points] DeathThrasher:

Interesting that McAffee said he would unlock it for free ...


[1 Points] Dnm_cunt:

A question no one is asking: how much did the FBI have to pay for all the legal proceedings against apple?


[1 Points] bagofm3th:

John Mcafee offered todo it for free.


[0 Points] CommodoreAxis:

The best part is that they didn't learn jack-shit. Probably, at least, they claim they claimed they found 'encrypted communications with other ISIS supporters', which means they read his texts.

http://fortune.com/2016/04/23/fbi-iphone-san-bernardino-shooter/


[-4 Points] None:

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