As encryption battle heats up on the Hill, FBI says iPhone hack limited to 5C

Even though the FBI isn't going to court with Apple, there's plenty of encryption legal drama ahead. I'm Bridget Carey. This is your CNN update. [MUSIC] It seems the FBI's iPhone hacking methods are a bit limited. While speaking at Ohio's Kenyon College, FBI director James Comey told the audience that the tool it used to unlock the iPhone 5c used by San Bernardino terrorist, Syed Farook would only work on a iPhone 5c that's running iOS 9. This doesn't work in 6's, doesn't work in 5S, and so we have a tool that works on a narrow slice of phones. Comey also said this tool that Agency purchased was from a third party and that he's confident they would be good at protecting the technology so it doesn't get into the wrong hands. But will the FBI tell Apple how the hack was done? Colley says that that's being weighed out and the FBI is also still deciding how it may use this tech to help local and state authorities in different investigations. But even though the FBI is keeping Apple in the dark, it is shedding some light on the secrets to a few members of Congress. Some US Senators are getting briefed on how the FBI accessed The data stored on the iPhone 5C. Among those who got briefed are California Senator Diane Feinstein, who confirmed the briefing to CNET. Feinstein is on the Senate Intelligence Committee and is expected to introduce a bill this week to give federal judges broad authority to order tech companies To help the government access encrypted information to aid in investigations. That's according to a report from Reuters. Both sources also told Reuters that the White House Administration is divided on the issue and will not publicly support such legislation. Tech companies are beefing up privacy in encryption just as this debate begins to bubble up again. And this week. WhatsApp added end-to-end encryption to more areas of its messaging app. So it can't deliver specific conversations to investigators even if a judge ordered the company to do so. But could a government ever order a company to not use encryption or to build a hack that creates a back door? That's a question the FBI and Apple fight never resolved. That's all for this tech news round-up. From our studios in New York, I'm Bridget Carey. [MUSIC]