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Paywalled for me here in the UK. I assume the title sums up the article? Since I can't read the article, from anyone that can, how did they come to that figure

Paywalled for me here in the UK. I assume the title sums up the article? Since I can't read the article, from anyone that can, how did they come to that figure? Is that just the cost of the exploit or..? Cheers

pavel_lishin 10y ago
> The Federal Bureau of Investigation paid more than $1 million for a hacking tool that opened the iPhone of a terrorist gunman in San Bernardino, Calif., the head of the agency said Thursday. > Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in London, FBI Director James Comey didn’t cite a precise figure for how much the government paid for the solution to cracking the phone but said it was more than his salary for the seven-plus years remaining in his term at the FBI. > His annual salary is about $180,000 a year, so that comes to $1.26 million or more. > “[We] paid a lot’’ for the hacking tool, Mr. Comey said. “But it was worth it.’’ I wonder how exactly it's worth it, given that nothing of interest of relevance was found on the device.
- losteric 10y ago
  Well now they have a tool they can use at any time.
  - tomtoise 10y ago
    I was just thinking this. Again, I haven't been able to read the article but I was under the impression that the FBI paid to crack this one phone, I didn't realize that they have this tool that could 'hack' more iPhones with.
  - LeifCarrotson 10y ago
    On iPhone 5. Until Apple updates the software to fix the vulnerability.
    - imaginenore 10y ago
      If they know what to fix. FBI aren't idiots to tell them.
      - pavel_lishin 10y ago
        Apple could probably buy the same tool and analyze it.
- sailfast 10y ago
  Given that this is FBI procurement, I'm guessing they bought an "Enterprise license" with full support and the opportunity to use the application on any phone that fits the spec just in case because additional procurements would take a long time. Typing this sarcastic comments made me realize that they may have bought this tool for all open cases with this device which actually might've been fairly cost effective, but a bit scarier.

pavel_lishin 10y ago

> The Federal Bureau of Investigation paid more than $1 million for a hacking tool that opened the iPhone of a terrorist gunman in San Bernardino, Calif., the head of the agency said Thursday. > Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in London, FBI Director James Comey didn’t cite a precise figure for how much the government paid for the solution to cracking the phone but said it was more than his salary for the seven-plus years remaining in his term at the FBI. > His annual salary is about $180,000 a year, so that comes to $1.26 million or more. > “[We] paid a lot’’ for the hacking tool, Mr. Comey said. “But it was worth it.’’ I wonder how exactly it's worth it, given that nothing of interest of relevance was found on the device.

losteric 10y ago
Well now they have a tool they can use at any time.
- tomtoise 10y ago
  I was just thinking this. Again, I haven't been able to read the article but I was under the impression that the FBI paid to crack this one phone, I didn't realize that they have this tool that could 'hack' more iPhones with.
- LeifCarrotson 10y ago
  On iPhone 5. Until Apple updates the software to fix the vulnerability.
  - imaginenore 10y ago
    If they know what to fix. FBI aren't idiots to tell them.
    - pavel_lishin 10y ago
      Apple could probably buy the same tool and analyze it.
sailfast 10y ago
Given that this is FBI procurement, I'm guessing they bought an "Enterprise license" with full support and the opportunity to use the application on any phone that fits the spec just in case because additional procurements would take a long time. Typing this sarcastic comments made me realize that they may have bought this tool for all open cases with this device which actually might've been fairly cost effective, but a bit scarier.