Apple Tightens Up
In the light of the San Bernardino attacks that had put the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Apple at loggerheads with each other, Apple engineers have started developing a new security system that it would make it impossible for anyone to surpass and hack into the user’s iPhone.
Thus, this development received a greater amount of impetus than previous issues.
In the ruling of the US Federal Judge, Apple was asked to aid the FBI in the investigation that was being carried out against the San Bernardino shooters by helping the investigators bypass the passcode on Syed Farook’s phone to establish any link that he might have had with any terrorist organisation.
FBI director James Comey defended the federal agency’s request, saying that they were not asking Apple to completely replace the security system that would make all iPhones easily accessible, but were asking them for assistance in accessing the iOS 8 on Syed Farook’s iPhone.
According to a report in the New York Times, if Apple succeeded in creating tighter security measures, then it will become all the more difficult for law enforcement agencies to access the data stored on iPhones.
Thus any such similar cases in the future, would set a vicious cycle of court cases and further the quarrel between Apple and the FBI. Experts say that such a scenario demanded intervention from the Congress. Federal wiretapping laws did not require tech companies like Apple and Google to follow them religiously.
Tech Companies Are In For the Fight
Following the startling revelations made by Edward Snowden, companies have fought hard not only to protect their codes from hackers, but also from government interference. And security is something that Apple has always stood for. So, further measures would only help the company in winning over the satisfaction and trust of its customers and its investors.
And this is exactly what Timothy Cook, the CEO of Apple, stresses on in an interview with ABC News:
“For all of those people who want to have a voice but they’re afraid, we are standing up, and we are standing up for our customers because protecting them we view as our job.”
In his letter, just after the ruling, he had argued that giving in to the government’s requests would set a dangerous precedent that would allow the government to bypass the security of any device – something that is “too dangerous to create”.
