FBI exaggerated the number of phones it can’t unlock by up to 550 percent

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The Federal Bureau of Investigation has repeatedly claimed that it was unable to access data on nearly 7,800 encrypted devices in fiscal 2017, but the FBI now admits the number is far lower. In reality, there were just 1,000 to 2,000 devices that the FBI couldn't unlock last year, The Washington Post reported yesterday.

The FBI apparently counted individual phones multiple times, an error related to the agency's use of three separate databases. The FBI used the inflated number as evidence that companies like Apple should weaken smartphone security in order to help the agency access encrypted devices. For example, FBI Director Christopher Wray said the following in a January 2018 speech:

In fiscal year 2017, we were unable to access the content of 7,775 devices-using appropriate and available technical tools-even though we had the legal authority to do so. Each one of those nearly 7,800 devices is tied to a specific subject, a specific defendant, a specific victim, a specific threat... Being unable to access nearly 7,800 devices is a major public safety issue. That's more than half of all the devices we attempted to access in that timeframe-and that's just at the FBI.

Wray said the 7,800 locked devices illustrate the scope of the "Going Dark" problem, in which criminals benefit from the standard smartphone security features that protect consumers at large. But the FBI's transcript of Wray's speech now carries a correction saying that "Due to an error in methodology, this number is incorrect. A review is ongoing to determine an updated number."

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