Apple closing door on law agencies’ bypass

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple is closing a security gap that allowed outsiders to pry personal information from locked iPhones without a password, a change that will thwart law enforcement agencies that have exploited the vulnerability to collect evidence in criminal investigations.

Thesecurity gap will be shut in an update to Apple’s iOS software, which powers iPhones.

Once fixed, iPhones will no longer be vulnerable to intrusion via the Lightning port used both to transfer data and to charge iPhones. The port will still function after the update, but will shut off data an hour after a phone is locked if the correct password isn’t entered.

The flaw has provided a point of entry for authorities across the U.S. since the FBI paid an unidentified third party in 2016 to unlock an iPhone used by a mass killer in the December 2015 San Bernardino shooting.

The FBI sought outside help after Apple rebuffed the agency’s efforts to make the company create a security backdoor into iPhone technology.

In a Wednesday statement, Apple framed its decision to tighten iPhone security as part of its crusade to protect the personal information that its customers store on their phones.

CEO Tim Cook has hailed privacy as a “fundamental” right of people and skewered both Facebook and Google for vacuuming up personal information about users of their free services to sell advertising based on their interests.

During Apple’s 2016 battle with the FBI, Cook called the FBI’s effort to make the company alter its software a “dangerous precedent” in an open letter.

“We’re constantly strengthening the security protections in every Apple product to help customers defend against hackers, identity thieves and intrusions into their personal data,” Apple said.