Apple refuses to help FBI unlock iPhones of California jihadis
APPLE is refusing a court order to unlock an iPhone belonging to the jihadi terrorist who shot 14 people dead in California.
The technology firm’s boss Tim Cook said complying with the Us order would set a ‘dangerous precedent’ – even though Islamic state-inspired killer syed Farook is dead.
Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik went on a killing spree in san Bernardino in December before police shot them dead.
However Mr Cook said the implications of complying with the court were ‘chilling’, and threatened ‘the security of our customers’.
Apple’s refusal sets it up for a showdown with the FBI and Judge sheri Pym of the Us District Court in Los Angeles.
The FBI has had Farook’s iPhone 5C for more than two months but cannot access vital information stored on it.
Investigators have been hampered by an iPhone feature that wipes all data if the wrong pass- word is entered ten times. The FBI believes the device could be the key to understanding why Farook and his wife carried out the attack.
But Mr Cook said the firm would not ‘hack our own users’ – something he said would be an ‘unprecedented’ step.
He said the FBI was essentially asking Apple to create a ‘back door’ to its own encryption, something it would not do.
Mr Cook said: ‘The implications of the government’s demands are chilling. If the government can make it easier to unlock your iPhone, it would have the power to reach into anyone’s device to capture their data.
‘The government could extend this breach of privacy and demand that Apple build surveillance software to intercept your messages, access your health records or financial data, track your location, or even access your phone’s microphone or camera without your knowledge.’
Judge Pym’s order requires Apple to develop software that would bypass the self-wiping mechanism, enabling the FBI to crack Farook’s password and access his phone. Mr Cook said that, in the wrong hands, such software would ‘have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone’s physical possession’.
He added: ‘While we believe the FBI’s intentions are good, it would be wrong for the government to force us to build a back door into our products. And, ultimately, we fear that this demand would undermine the very freedoms and liberty our government is meant to protect.’
The case is likely to end up in the Us supreme Court, by which time the information that could have been gleaned from Farook’s phone may be useless.
Last week FBI director James Comey said Apple’s refusal to cooperate was a ‘big problem for law enforcement’ and appealed for the firm to change its mind.
Apple used to unlock phones for police but can no longer do so as, on its latest models, the encryption of information is impossible even for the firm to crack. It means that the FBI can find itself having to ask criminals for their password in order to access information.