The FBI recently made headlines for hacking into the San Bernardino iPhone, and now, it's talking to Apple about the vulnerability of its products. On April 14, the FBI opened up to the iPhone's creator about security flaws present within iPhones and Macs.
Apple claims that the information shared by the FBI pertained to older versions of its iPhone and Mac products. The FBI disclosed its findings under the Vulnerability Equities Process, which has been in existence since 2014. The goal is to provide tech manufacturers with security warnings in an attempt to give them a chance to resolve the issues before hackers take advantage.
Apple told Reuters that about 80 percent of iPhones are on a safe version of the operating system. For this reason, it does not intend to create a patch to resolve security issues on older models of its iPhones and Macs.
The FBI generated a media frenzy earlier this year when it asked Apple to decrypt the iPhone utilized by San Bernardino terror suspect, Syed Rizwan Farook. After Apple declined to help, the government was forced to seek other resources to break into the device.
Eventually, an unnamed group of hackers assisted the FBI, and they were paid a one-time fee for their work. Rumors claim that the FBI was able to break into the iPhone by exploiting a software flaw and utilizing hardware to bypass the iOS passcode feature.
In a response to the media, a law enforcement official claimed that the FBI could not comment on the "possibility of future disclosures to Apple," meaning the company may never know exactly how the phone was hacked. Furthermore, the FBI is expected to tell the White House in the coming days that it cannot share how the phone was unlocked with other government agencies. Although Apple has been informed of security flaws present in older devices, the matter of the day will continue to be shrouded in secrecy.
FBI Director James Comey recently announced that the Bureau paid "more than his salary for the past seven-plus years remaining in his FBI term" for hackers to open up the iPhone used by the San Bernardino terror suspect. This supposedly amounts to more than $1 million.
