iPhone hack cost FBI about $1M

Agency paid for help froman unidentified third party in accessing terrorist’s device

WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director James Comey hinted at an event Thursday in London that the FBI paid more than $1 million to break into the locked iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino attackers.

“We paid a lot,” Comey said. “But it was worth it.”

Comey was asked during a question-and-answer session at an Aspen Security Forum event how much the FBI paid for the method from an unidentified third-party to access the phone.

He did not give a precise number but said it was “more than I will make in the remainder of this job, which is seven years and four months, for sure.”

The Justice Department last month revealed that an entity outside the government had approached it with a method that could be used to open the phone used by Syed Farook, who along with his wife killed 14 people in the December attacks before dying in a police shootout.

“We paid a lot, but it was worth it.” — James Comey, FBI director

The revelation came after a federal magistrate had directed Apple to help the FBI hack into the phone. The FBI had said that it wanted access to the phone as part of its investigation into the attacks.

The FBI has not disclosed the identity of the party who helped it crack into the device.

A law enforcement official has said that investigators found nothing of significance

In February, the Justice Department obtained the court order compelling Apple to help investigators bypass the device’s security features in a way that wouldn’t automatically erase its contents. Apple refused and the ensuing court fight generated a heated controversy that pitted the Justice Department and other law enforcement officials against privacy advocates and major technology companies who fear creating “backdoors” into their products.

The FBI last month abruptly dropped the case when it was approached by the unidentified third party that had found a way to circumvent the phone’s security features.

Comey and other top Justice Department officials credited publicity surrounding the court clash with spurring outside groups to try to hack into the phone.