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FBI Says It Can't Release iPhone Hacking Tool Because It Might Still Be Useful (zdnet.com)
Justice Dept. officials say that details of a hacking tool used to access a terrorist's iPhone should not be released because it may still be "useful" to federal investigators. From a report: The government is fighting a case against three news organizations, including the Associated Press, which are fighting to release details of the hacking tool that FBI agents used to unlock a passcode-protected phone used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook. Details of the hacking tool have remained classified, not least because the Justice Dept. believes the tool may could still be used by the FBI in similar cases. "Disclosure of this information could reasonably be expected to cause serious damage to national security as it would allow hostile entities to discover the current intelligence gathering methods used, as well as the capabilities and limitations of these methods," said David Hardy, section chief of the FBI's records management division, in a court filing released late Monday.
Just saying.
By the way, the "department of *justice*" is not under the "judicial branch", it reports directly to the president as part of the executive ... ie: it's a police and prosecution force... not a judge. And generally speaking "justice" means exacting puritanical colonial revenge, not more enlightened evolved and advanced rational rehabilitation that has come to play in Europe and far surpassed the US.