UPDATED 01:26 EDT / APRIL 08 2016

NEWS

Oops: FBI confesses it can’t hack later iPhone models

In a surprise turn of events the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has revealed that the method it used to gain access to the iPhone 5c belonging to one of the San Bernadino terrorists won’t work on later iPhone models.

The revelation came from FBI Director James Comey in a speech at Kenyon University where he said “It’s a bit of a technological corner case, because the world has moved on to sixes … This doesn’t work on sixes, doesn’t work on a 5s. So we have a tool that works on a narrow slice of phones.”

“I can never be completely confident, but I’m pretty confident about that.”

Comey didn’t specify why the method doesn’t work on later phones however The Verge believes it may be due to Secure Enclave protections that were first implemented in the A7 chip that debuted with the iPhone 5s; Secure Enclave is a separate CPU within the A7 and later chips that is responsible for cryptographic operations and in theory should prevent brute forcing methods being used to unlock an iPhone as it is not tied in with the phone’s operating system kernel.

Oops

The revelation follows a memo from the FBI to State and Local law enforcement agencies promising to assist them in unlocking iPhones, while neglecting to mention that the method they have in place can only be used on older phones.

Apple, along with all of its users, would still like to know exactly what method was used, and this is something Comey did address, saying that the Bureau was still considering whether to do so.

“We tell Apple, then they’re going to fix it, then we’re back where we started from,” he said. “We may end up there, we just haven’t decided yet.”

Whatever the method the news that the FBI can crack older iPhones is still deeply concerning and while it remains unaddressed and unfixed millions of iPhone users are at risk of being targeted by bad actors looking to steal personal information from iPhones, and more.

The FBI should have a moral responsibility, as a Government agency that ultimately serves the people of the United States, to protect those very same people from nefarious activities, and if they know of a flaw in earlier iPhone models they need to reveal it to Apple immediately.

Image credit: donkeyhotey/Flickr/CC by 2.0

A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:

Support our open free content by sharing and engaging with our content and community.

Join theCUBE Alumni Trust Network

Where Technology Leaders Connect, Share Intelligence & Create Opportunities

11.4k+  
CUBE Alumni Network
C-level and Technical
Domain Experts
15M+ 
theCUBE
Viewers
Connect with 11,413+ industry leaders from our network of tech and business leaders forming a unique trusted network effect.

SiliconANGLE Media is a recognized leader in digital media innovation serving innovative audiences and brands, bringing together cutting-edge technology, influential content, strategic insights and real-time audience engagement. As the parent company of SiliconANGLE, theCUBE Network, theCUBE Research, CUBE365, theCUBE AI and theCUBE SuperStudios — such as those established in Silicon Valley and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) — SiliconANGLE Media operates at the intersection of media, technology, and AI. .

Founded by tech visionaries John Furrier and Dave Vellante, SiliconANGLE Media has built a powerful ecosystem of industry-leading digital media brands, with a reach of 15+ million elite tech professionals. The company’s new, proprietary theCUBE AI Video cloud is breaking ground in audience interaction, leveraging theCUBEai.com neural network to help technology companies make data-driven decisions and stay at the forefront of industry conversations.