The FBI reportedly paid a group of hackers to break into the San Bernardino terrorist's iPhone for them

After Apple refused the FBI's request to help break into San Bernardino terrorist Syed Farook's iPhone, the bureau reportedly turned to its next best option: professional hackers. According to a report by The Washington Post published late Tuesday, the FBI ended up paying a group of professional hackers a one-time fee to crack open Farook's iPhone.

The unnamed hackers discovered "at least one previously unknown software flaw" that allowed them to defeat the device's security, The Post reports. They then used that flaw to create hardware that helped them open the iPhone without triggering the security feature that would've erased all of the phone's data after too many incorrect login attempts.

Now, in a twist of fate, the FBI is faced with the question of whether they'll help Apple by letting them in on the software flaw the hackers discovered. "It's an interesting conversation because, we tell Apple, they fix it and then we're back to where we started from," FBI Director James Comey said, though he admitted the agency is "considering" it.

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