TECH giant Apple has sparked outrage by refusing to help the FBI break into an
iPhone that belonged to an ISIS terrorist.
CEO Tim Cook said his company will fight a ruling by Judge Sheri Pym, who
ordered Apple to offer “reasonable technical assistance” to crack
the device.
The phone was owned husband and wife terrorists Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik
– who killed 14 people at a Christmas party on December 2.
But police still cannot crack the security on the phone – which investigators
believe may have been used to communicate with ISIS terror chiefs.
Judge Pym had ordered Apple to disable a feature that blocks the iPhone 5C if
too many unsuccessful attempts are made to unlock it.
Federal prosecutors had filed a motion requesting Apple’s help after the FBI
failed to crack the phone’s code.
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By disabling the security features, the FBI would have been able to attempt as
many different password combinations as needed before gaining access.
But Cook has now issued a ferocious response, claiming the order “has
implications far beyond the legal case at hand.”
“In the wrong hands, this software – which does not exist today – would
have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone’s physical possession,”
Cook said.
“The FBI may use different words to describe this tool, but make no
mistake: Building a version of iOS that bypasses security in this way would
undeniably create a back door,” he went on to say.
Farook, a US citizen, and his Pakistani wife stormed a Christmas work party on
December 2 and shot their victims.
The tech giant had been granted five days to comply with the order or formally
state that doing so would be “unreasonably burdensome,” Judge Pym
said.
Cook’s comments mean it is almost certain that Apple will now opt for the
latter option.
Tech companies, intent on securing the trust of consumers after government
spying revelations made by Edward Snowden, have been reluctant to be seen as
helping authorities spy on users.
