14 DAY TRIAL // Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has sent a new letter to company employees to discuss the recent controversy regarding an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino attackers, reiterating that helping the FBI hack the device could create additional risks for all Americans.
In a separate Q&A posted on the company’s website, Tim Cook has also admitted that Apple can indeed hack the iPhone, but it doesn’t want to because of the dangerous implications such a decision would have.
He has explained that “the government would have us write an entirely new operating system for their use,” suggesting once again that the FBI doesn’t necessarily want a way to get access to the content stored on that iPhone, but rather to be able to fully control it.
“They are asking Apple to remove security features and add a new ability to the operating system to attack iPhone encryption, allowing a passcode to be input electronically,” Tim Cook has pointed out, adding that “it would be wrong to intentionally weaken our products with a government-ordered backdoor. If we lose control of our data, we put both our privacy and our safety at risk.”
Cook then goes on to explain that it’s nearly impossible in the current digital world to create a digital application that can disappear after the first use and make sure that no one would ever be able to use it.
“The digital world is very different from the physical world. In the physical world you can destroy something and it’s gone. But in the digital world, the technique, once created, could be used over and over again, on any number of devices,” he explains.
Apple can hack the iPhone
When discussing Apple’s capabilities to build what the government has ordered, Tim Cook has said that, yes, the company can actually develop such software to break into the iPhone, but it doesn’t want to because of the security threats that could arise once it’s being used for the first time.
“Yes, it is certainly possible to create an entirely new operating system to undermine our security features as the government wants. But it’s something we believe is too dangerous to do. The only way to guarantee that such a powerful tool isn’t abused and doesn’t fall into the wrong hands is to never create it,” he explains.
The company’s CEO has also commented on the recent accusations coming from the FBI, who said that Apple refuses to help break into the iPhone because it’s a marketing stunt to help increase its sales. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” he has stressed, explaining that this decision “has always been about our customers.”
And ultimately, Tim Cook explains that while it’s open to further discussions in this case, he believes that the government “should withdraw its demands” and instead for a commission that would closely analyze the implications of all entities and make the right decision on this.
Unsurprisingly, the government doesn’t seem to be at all keen on giving up in this dispute, and since it all appears to turn into a chess game, it’s now the FBI’s turn to respond.