A report published in Wednesday's Washington Post claims the FBI cracked into the San Bernardino gunman's phone with the help of professional hackers in exchange for a one-time fee. 

The battle of the FBI vs Apple dominated much of the early part of 2016. The debate the case sparked up about encryption and privacy was a healthy one, but the case itself ended abruptly as the FBI managed to access the device without the help of Apple.  

The report in Wednesday's Washington Post claims the hackers broke through the iPhone 5Cs security by using a software flaw. This flaw was utilised to create a piece of hardware which allowed access to the phone without trigging the erase feature which would wipe the phone entirely. 

While the report does not identify the hackers involved, it is claimed that it was not Cellebrite, which had been claimed previously. 

Disclosure

While this still does not provide the full details of how the FBI came to access the information, it does remind us of an important question; will the FBI inform Apple of the software flaw that allowed them into the device?

If so, Apple can fix it and ensure this method is no longer an option for anyone. If not, should Apple customers worry about the safety of their information?

James Comey, director of the FBI stated that the organisation is "considering it".