The FBI isn't sure how hackers got into that San Bernardino iPhone

The FBI probably doesn't know how Israeli hackers got into a coveted iPhone belonging to a San Bernardino, California extremist, and they may never find out.
 By 
Colin Daileda
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The FBI probably doesn't know how Israeli hackers got into a coveted iPhone 5c belonging to a San Bernardino, California extremist, and they may never find out. 

The agency had been trying to get Apple to help them break into the iPhone used by Syed Farook, one of two attackers who killed 14 people during an attack in December. 


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Apple refused to help the FBI, and the two were fighting a legal duel over whether the government could compel the company to help hack the phone. 

But the FBI then found an Israeli hacking group to do the job. 

That group is private, meaning the FBI cannot compel them to submit their hacking technique to the government's Vulnerabilities Equities Process, according to Reuters. That's where government agencies review flaws in technology and determine which of those flaws should be made public. 

Apple has also expressed concern over the vulnerability that the Israeli company used to hack the iPhone 5C, saying they'd like to block criminals from exploiting it.

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Colin Daileda

Colin is Mashable's US & World Reporter. He previously interned at Foreign Policy magazine and The American Prospect. Colin is a graduate from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. When he's not at Mashable, you can most likely find him eating or playing some kind of sport.

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