Members of the House Judiciary Committee were disappointed with the low level of technical knowledge displayed by FBI Director James Comey during a March 1 hearing about the FBI’s encryption dispute with Apple.
The feeling was shared by committee members from both political parties, according to a source close to the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The FBI won a court order February 16 demanding that Apple create a custom OS that would disable security features in San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook’s iPhone 5c. The FBI could then log into the phone, where it hopes to find evidence of Farook’s connections with organized terror groups.
Comey declined to answer questions from several committee members, explaining that he lacked the technical understanding to do so.
Comey, the source said, is generally well liked by members of Congress. While committee members appreciated his candor on broader issues, some were frustrated that he couldn’t go deep on technical questions regarding encryption technology.
It was during questions from Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) that Comey’s lack of technical knowledge came into sharpest relief.
Issa has a security background, and knew that there are two ways of attacking a locked iPhone: via a firmware upload to disable security features in iOS, and by removing the flash memory chip from the phone and copying (or mirroring) its contents.
