In a row that is gaining international attention, Apple has issued a letter challenging a court's request that the company comply with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and create software to enable the F.B.I. to unlock Syed Farook's phone. Farook was one of two San Bernardino shooters, and the F.B.I. is demanding Apple's help in giving it access to Farook's data. Apple has said that its pending compliance would have far-reaching implications for privacy and the tech world. The New York Times explains:
The court is ordering the company to “bypass or disable” a feature that automatically wipes an iPhone clean of all its data after 10 incorrect password attempts have been entered. This is a standard feature on iPhones.
Technically, that would not require Apple to decrypt the passcode that blocks access by outsiders to the iPhone. It would allow the government to try an unlimited number of passwords without fear of the phone erasing all of its stored information.
In electronic security parlance, that is what is called a “brute force” attack, and all it takes is time and patience to submit a large number of passcodes. Brute force attacks are usually carried out with the assistance of a powerful computer, which can automatically input millions of different password combinations until it guesses the correct one.
As for Cook, he described the use of the All Writs Act of 1789 to call for these measures as an "overreach" by the US government even as he said Apple has "no sympathy for terrorists."
"We are challenging the FBI's demands with the deepest respect for American democracy and a love of our country," Cook concluded. "While we believe the FBI's intentions are good, it would be wrong for the government to force us to build a backdoor into our products. And ultimately, we fear that this demand would undermine the very freedoms and liberty our government is meant to protect."
