CEO: Apple Will Not Help FBI Hack San Bernardino Killer's iPhone
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Apple will not comply with a federal judge's orders to help the FBI hack into an iPhone belonging to one of the killers in the San Bernardino shooting massacre, CEO Tim Cook said Wednesday.
Around midnight, Cook released a written statement in response to U.S. Magistrate Sheri Pym's request for Apple to provide software that would disable current security features that erase data from iPhones.
"We are challenging the FBI's demands with the deepest respect for American democracy and a love of our country," Cook wrote. "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.
"Ultimately, we fear that this demand would undermine the very freedoms and liberty our government is meant to protect."
On Tuesday, Pym ordered for Apple to assist with the case after federal investigators had too many unsuccessful attempts to unlock the iPhone belonging to Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his 27-year-old wife, Tashfeen Malik.
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Each iPhone is currently encrypted with password protection. A password will automatically erase from the phone if it is incorrectly entered more than 10 times. In order to avoid this from happening, the FBI wants Apple to write software that would override the protection feature in order to not erase the phone's content.
"Specifically, the FBI wants us to make a new version of the iPhone operating system, circumventing several important security features and install it on an iPhone recovered during the investigation," Cook added. "In the wrong hands, this software -- which does not exist today -- would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone's physical possession."
In the statement, Cook explains one of the many problems he has with the magistrate's request for a new operating system is that it could be used multiple times on a number of devices. He notes the government believes the system would only be used once.
"In the physical world, it would be the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks from restaurants and banks to stores and homes," he wrote. "Comprising the security of our personal information can ultimately put our personal safety at rise. That is why encryption has become so important to all of us."
A typical consumer uses an iPhone to store personal information including photos, music, notes, calendars, contacts, financial information, health data and GPS tracking.
"All that information needs to be protected from hackers and criminals who want to access it, steal it, and use it without our knowledge or permission," Cook wrote. "Customers expect Apple and other technology companies to do everything in our power to protect their personal information, and at Apple we are deeply committed to safeguarding their data."
On Dec. 2, 2015, Farook and Malik killed 14 people and injured dozens of others during a holiday party hosted at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. The married couple was later killed in a shootout with police.
According to Cook, Apple assisted the FBI in the days following the attack and has "worked hard to support the government's efforts to solve this horrible crime."