14 DAY TRIAL // The FBI is refusing to release information about the tool it used to break down the encryption levels around the iPhone of the San Bernardino shooter because it might still have use for it.
There was a huge scandal last year as Apple said it could do absolutely nothing to help the FBI crack the iPhone used by the San Bernardino shooter. It wasn't long before the FBI said it no longer needed Apple's help because it managed to crack the device on its own. How? They didn't say and continue to refuse to share any information about it.
The government is currently fighting against three news organizations that want the FBI to release information about how it unlocked the passcode-protected phone of Syed Farook. There have been ample speculations in regards to this issue, including the fact that they may have outsourced the case.
"Disclosure of this information could reasonably be expected to cause serious damage to national security as it would allow hostile entities to discover the current intelligence gathering methods used, as well as the capabilities and limitations of these methods," said the FBI's David Hardy, section chief of the agency's records management division.
He continues by saying that the intelligence activities or methods that are being withheld in this case are still used or are useful to the FBI today to gather intelligence information. In other words, "sorry, but we're still using those methods to crack open other protected devices."
Speculations running high
It is known that a third-party company created the hacking tool used to break the iPhone 5C in question, although the name has not yet been revealed. Many believe it to be Cellebrite, an Israeli company, but this has not been confirmed.
There have also been speculations regarding how the hack was performed. Some said that they targeted a weakness in iPhone 5c devices, which was that it did not come with a secure enclave processor, which is a key part of the full-disk encryption that comes with the iPhone that not even Apple can crack. Newest iPhone models come with this feature so if this is the weakness the FBI used to crack the San Bernardino shooter's phone, it cannot be used on them.