Calif. victim’s pa backs Apple bid
THE FATHER of a California terror victim voiced guarded support for Apple on Wednesday, as the company reportedly is planning to develop an iPhone that no one can hack.
Gregory Clayborn said even though he wants to know what’s on a locked iPhone used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook, he doesn’t fault Apple for its reluctance to furnish a “backdoor” hack.
“My thoughts are that Apple is right in trying to secure its proprietary software and not give away a key so others are put at risk,” the grieving dad told the Daily News on Wednesday. “Anybody who has an emotional connection to this is a little bit angry with Apple. If your loved one was murdered because of this, yes, why wouldn’t you be upset? But I’m not angry with Apple as a company. I understand their position.”
The company is fighting a court order to help the Justice Department unlock Farook’s phone, which was issued to him by San Bernardino County.
Apple has argued that doing so would make other iPhones more susceptible to hacking by authorities or criminals.
Clayborn, who lost his 27-year-old daughter, Sierra, in the bloodshed on Dec. 2, said his hope is that enough safeguards can be put in place so that Apple can safely open the device without FBI involvement and without opening any legal floodgates. “I agree with others that our privacy is in jeopardy if the FBI gets hold of the technology. That shouldn’t be in the hands of the FBI. Let Apple get the information off the phone and then disseminate it,” he said.
Meanwhile, Apple is reportedly planning to develop an iPhone that truly no one — not even the company — can hack into, according to The New York Times.
Sources close to the company report that engineers have already begun working on new security measures that would make it significantly more difficult for law enforcement agencies to hack into an iPhone.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has refused to create a backdoor for the government, saying it will “set a precedent that I believe many people in America would be offended by.”