14 DAY TRIAL // Apple engineers have already said that they expect the method used by the FBI to hack the San Bernardino iPhone to leak very soon, and now a similar approach seems to be embraced by the whole company.
Cupertino attorneys said in a media briefing today that Apple won’t sue the FBI to find out how it hacked the device and emphasized that the company expects this method to be short lived, ZDNet reports.
They admitted, however, that Apple has no idea how the FBI actually managed to unlock the phone and access the data stored on it, but explained that the vulnerability exploited by the bureau is very likely to be patched as the company continues improving its operating system.
As a result, Apple’s engineers are expected to develop a patch for the hack used by the FBI without specifically knowing that it is the vulnerability exploited in the San Bernardino case, the company lawyers suggested.
The hack only works on the iPhone 5C
Although many customers were worried that the FBI holds an iPhone hack and Apple can’t do anything about it, there’s no reason why either users or the Cupertino-based company would feel insecure: the unlocking method only works on the iPhone 5C, so newer devices are fully protected.
FBI director James Comey himself confirmed this and the limitations of the hack are actually the reasons the agency is now trying to force Apple to break into a different iPhone involved in a New York drug case.
"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. "We tell Apple, then they're going to fix it, then we're back where we started from. We may end up there, we just haven't decided yet,” he added when explaining why the FBI isn’t telling Apple how it hacked the phone.
In the end, that flaw might be eventually patched without anyone knowing that it’s fixed, so the sooner Apple releases new updates for iOS, the better for everyone. The uncertainty, however, isn’t quite helping Apple in its relationship with customers.