U.S. Magistrate Sheri Pym ruled that Apple must help the FBI break into an iPhone belonging to one of the killers in the San Bernardino, Calif. yesterday.
The issue of encryption has become a big topic of discussion in the tech world in recent years, but most major tech companies (Facebook, Apple, Twitter) have agreed that they won’t create “backdoors” to allow the government or anyone to spy on data.
As of right now, iPhones themselves are pretty secure. They include a feature that if an incorrect passcode is entered a certain number of times then all the data on the phone is erased. It’s a security measure Apple put in place to keep your important data out of the wrong hands.
Federal prosecutors have recovered an iPhone from the San Bernardino shootings and don’t know the passcode. The FBI is asking Apple to disable the security feature, allowing them to essentially hack into the phone and get the information they think is there.
The requested “backdoor” means Apple will have to to write brand new code that will compromise key features of the phone’s security.
Apple responded to the request with a lengthy open letter explaining why weakening the iPhone software is a bad idea and puts everyone at risk — including you.
Read an excerpt:
To read the letter in full, click here. We don’t know about you, but someone having a ‘master key’ to ALL iPhones is a little scary. Especially considering those types of things always wind up in the wrong hands.
Comments are closed.