In spite of all the legal haggling about the FBI trying to force Apple to unlock the San Bernardino iPhone, authorities have not discovered any useful information thus far.

The FBI believed that the phone contained information about other plans for assaults or information related to other terrorist cell contacts. The iPhone set off a major legal wrangle and discussions about encryption and privacy.

Last week, anonymous sources told the Washington Post that the agency used professional hackers who specialize in exploiting zero day vulnerabilities to unlock Farook's iPhone. The report contradicts earlier reports that the FBI likely used Israeli forensics firm Cellebrite, to unlock the iPhone.

FBI direct James Comey has said that the FBI has no plans to share the method used to unlock the iPhone because if it did, Apple would just strengthen their encryption methods. “If we tell Apple, they're going to fix it and we're back where we started,” he said.

Jonathan Zdziarski, a security researcher who created iOS forensics tools: "Forensics tools like the one the FBI is in possession of are extremely powerful, and in spite of even your best efforts, sir, my experience suggests that yours will no doubt be used for questionable uses just as mine were.”

Source: SCMagazine