The FBI have revealed that an iPhone security flaw has allowed the agency to access the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone in the wake of Apple’s resistance.
Previous indications that the FBI hired an Israeli firm to provide access to the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone have been proven false, as the agency has revealed it, with a team of professional hackers, made use of a previously unknown iPhone security flaw to make entry to an iPhone 5c.
The group of professional hackers, whose identities are not yet known, actively search for vulnerabilities in software with the view of selling them to entities such as the US government. A new report indicates that the team found an unprecedented iPhone security flaw on iPhone 5c models running iOS 9.
Read: FBI clarifies its crack only works on the iPhone 5C
The team of hackers produced a hardware tool which was able to crack the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone through a four digit pin without triggering the smartphone’s ability to wipe all data on the device after 10 failed attempts.
The feature was previously the obstacle in question for the FBI, who, with the help of a court order, attempted to compel Apple to produce a backdoor into future versions of iOS. Apple CEO Tim Cook steadfastly denied the order, taking to an open letter to communicate Apple’s defiance to customers.
Read: Tim Cook blasts FBI request for iPhone access
It is presently unknown whether the hardware tool in question would be able to field access to other iPhones beyond the iPhone 5c model running iOS 9.
FBI director James Comey has stated that the FBI is considering whether to disclose the security flaw to Apple. In any event, Apple is expected to publish an update to the flaw within the coming weeks.
Read: Apple set to publicize fix for FBI decryption hack
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