--- description: The tool allowed agents to open an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino attackers. title: Here's How Much the FBI Paid to Hack Shooter's iPhone image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ba4292bc6413d18/69877892524fc03156debc27/iphone-social-apps-whatsapp.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # FBI Paid Over $1 Million to Hack Shooter's iPhone by [Pete Williams / NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Pete Williams / NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 21, 2016 7:01 PM CUT  Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME by [Pete Williams / NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Pete Williams / NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 21, 2016 7:01 PM CUT The FBI paid more than a million dollars for the software solution that allowed agents to open an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino attackers, according to a comment made by Director James Comey. Asked Thursday at a security conference in London how much the FBI paid for the tool that cracked Syed Farook’s phone and ended a California court battle with Apple, Comey said, “A lot, more than I will make in the remainder of this job, which is seven years and four months, for sure.” “But it was in my view worth it,” Comey said… [_Read the rest of this story from our partners at NBC News_](http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/fbi-paid-more-1-million-iphone-cracking-tool-n560006?cid=par-time-article%5F20141002 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4303800/fbi-iphone-cracking-tool/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4303800/fbi-iphone-cracking-tool/"},"headline":"FBI Paid Over $1 Million to Hack Shooter's iPhone","datePublished":"2016-04-21T19:01:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:49:53.419Z","description":"The tool allowed agents to open an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino attackers","url":"https://time.com/4303800/fbi-iphone-cracking-tool/","keywords":["Tech","Apple","Technology","iPhone","FBI"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ba4292bc6413d18/69877892524fc03156debc27/iphone-social-apps-whatsapp.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Pete Williams / NBC News"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ba4292bc6413d18/69877892524fc03156debc27/iphone-social-apps-whatsapp.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIME.com stock photos Social Apps iPhone","caption":"TIME.com stock photos Social Apps iPhone","creditText":"Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4303800/fbi-iphone-cracking-tool/","name":"FBI Paid Over $1 Million to Hack Shooter's iPhone"}}]}] ```