The FBI hired professional hackers to help it break into the iPhone used by one of the suspected shooters in the San Bernardino terrorist attack, according to a Washington Post report.
The hackers reportedly shared knowledge of an unknown software bug with the FBI which enabled them to decipher the four digit security code that unlocks the iPhone.
Previously, the FBI was pressuring Apple to help them crack the code. But with the hackers' assistance, the government agency was able to unlock the phone in late March.
The agency has not yet identified who the hackers are and has not disclosed how much they were paid, according to the report.
The Post reports that the security flaw alone was not enough to gain access to the device.
The agency and hackers had to also create a separate piece of hardware to get around the security features set in place to keep people from guessing the pin that unlocks the phone.
Apple's iPhones have a security feature that erases all of the data on the iPhone if the wrong pin is entered 10 times. The FBI wanted Apple to help it get around this feature so that it could enter unlimited pins. Apple refused to do so because the company did not want to set a dangerous precedent of giving the government access to data stored on its devices.
While the FBI finding a way into the phone without Apple's help is good news for the company, it also raises concerns about the unknown security flaw that the hackers discovered. It's still unclear whether the government will share information regarding the bug with Apple, and the tech giant said that it would not sue the government in order to find the flaw and the solution.
However, FBI director James Comey has said that the hack only works with the iPhone 5c running iOS9.
Apple told Tech Insider that it does not know what the alleged exploit is.
