FBI reportedly paid at least $1 million to hack into San Bernardino shooter's phone

FBI Director James B. Comey.
(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

At a security conference in London on Thursday, FBI Director James B. Comey said the bureau "paid a lot" to unlock the iPhone of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook, "but it was worth it."

Comey did not share the exact cost, just that it was more than what he will make in the remaining seven years of his 10-year contract as director, the Los Angeles Times reports. Comey earns a yearly salary of $183,000. The FBI has not revealed the name of the third party it hired to help them hack into the phone, and a law enforcement official has said the FBI did not make any major discoveries on the device.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.