Expert Says Apple, FBI Should Be Patient In Resolving Issue Of Unlocking iPhone Belonging To San Bernardino Gunman
(CBS) -- Slow and steady: that's the advice from one legal and technology expert following the debate over unlocking the iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino gunmen.
The FBI has the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino assailants but can't unlock it to find what information is waiting inside.
Apple could enable the federal government with a "key" to the "backdoor," but is resisting that pressure based on the privacy of information it guarantees to users.
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The latest punch in this fight came Thursday, when Apple filed a motion to dismiss the court order obtained by the FBI.
Northern Illinois University media studies professor David Gunkel says the code that creates the back door would create an inviting target for hackers or anybody who wants to use it for illegitimate purposes.
"If it can be engineered, it can also be reverse-engineered," Gunkel says. "That's a good reason why Apple is digging its heels in."
He says with the San Bernardino shooter dead and no links to additional terror plots, there is time to come up with a solution that balances privacy and public safety.
