Edward Snowden Thinks A Global iPhone Attack Will Happen This Year

In the wake of the FBI's legal battle with Apple, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has made a bold prediction.

Snowden wrote in a pair of tweets today that he believes iPhones around the world will be globally compromised by August, due to the FBI's "refusal to close security holes found during iPhone hack."

The iPhone that Snowden is alluding to is the iPhone 5C that belonged to one of the suspects of the mass shooting in San Bernardino in December 2015. A judge ordered Apple to unlock the phone in February 2016. Apple very publicly refused to comply.

The FBI ultimately withdrew the case against Apple after finding a third party to gain access into the iPhone. But the FBI has yet to reveal to the public how this third-party entity accessed the phone, stoking fears that it could be found out and exploited by others — such as hackers or foreign governments. It's unclear, however, if the FBI has contacted Apple through private channels to reveal how the hack was performed.