On Feb 25, Apple filed an official motion opposing the US court order for the company to help FBI unlock the iPhone 5c, recovered from the San Bernardino shooter. This controversial subject that has divided public opinion continues as more and more tech companies stand with Apple with even the United Nations coming to Apple’s defense. Last night, Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering at Apple, published an op-ed with the Washington Post stating that to help the FBI would “slow our pace, reverse our progress, [and] puts everyone at risk.”
If you’ve been following the Apple vs FBI case closely, Federighi probably isn’t saying anything that you haven’t already heard. However, Federighi isn’t focusing on the precedent that may or may not be set by this case, but rather the details of why it’s detrimental to unlock even one iPhone.
“To get around Apple’s safeguards, the FBI wants us to create a backdoor in the form of special software that bypasses passcode protections, intentionally creating a vulnerability that would let the government force its way into an iPhone. Once created, this software — which law enforcement has conceded it wants to apply to many iPhones — would become a weakness that hackers and criminals could use to wreak havoc on the privacy and personal safety of us all.
“I became an engineer because I believe in the power of technology to enrich our lives. Great software has seemingly limitless potential to solve human problems — and it can spread around the world in the blink of an eye. Malicious code moves just as quickly, and when software is created for the wrong reason, it has a huge and growing capacity to harm millions of people.
“Security is an endless race — one that you can lead but never decisively win. Yesterday’s best defenses cannot fend off the attacks of today or tomorrow. Software innovations of the future will depend on the foundation of strong device security. We cannot afford to fall behind those who would exploit technology in order to cause chaos. To slow our pace, or reverse our progress, puts everyone at risk.”
You can read the full op-ed article at the Washington Post. And let us know where you stand on this matter by leaving a comment below.
