Apple Beefs Up iPhone Security Measures Amid FBI Feud (Report)

Apple is reportedly working on new security measures for the iPhone that would make the device even more difficult for government and law enforcement agencies to unlock.

According to a story published Wednesday in the New York Times, the tech company is developing the new security measures as a result of its ongoing legal case with the FBI, which wants the company’s help in bypassing a lock on an iPhone used by one of the shooters responsible for last fall’s mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif.

Last week, a federal court ordered Apple to help the FBI unlock an iPhone linked to the mass shooting that killed 14 people in December. Apple has argued that complying with the order would force it to create programming that could allow the U.S. government or others to peek on anyone’s private digital data beyond the scope of the San Bernardino terrorism case.

Also Read: Apple Lawyer: Keeping Shooter's iPhone Locked Is First Amendment Right

Apple’s effort to ratchet up the impenetrability of its devices would mean that it is doubling down on its encryption principle: Only make devices that even the creator cannot hack.

Encyrption scrambles all the data on a device so anyone without the passcode key to the gadget only sees incomprehensible jibberish. Apple and Alphabet’s Google, which operate the two systems running the vast majority’s of the planet’s smartphones, took steps two years ago to better protect all that information. They developed new versions of their software that can automatically encrypt data and have been installing measures to prevent people who don’t know a device’s unique passcode from guessing it.

The FBI and DOJ have asked Apple to create programming that would allow them to bypass those protections, which is at the heart of the standoff over the San Bernardino phone.

Also Read: Apple, Facebook, Google Execs Attend White House Terrorism Meeting

That Apple is working to create a phone that could accommodate any backdoor access means that the company could trump the government’s goals, even if it loses the court fight.

Who's Who in the Apple Vs. FBI Feud (Photos)

Tim Cook

Apple's CEO sparked headlines by refusing to help the FBI unlock an iPhone linked to a deadly mass shooting, shining a spotlight on a long-simmering tension between protecting either digital privacy or public safety from attacks
Getty Images
Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik

The couple killed 14 people in December's mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif. Using a warrant to searching a car linked to the husband, Farook, law enforcement discovered a passcode-protected iPhone. They want to bypass security blockers to peek into the phone's data for clues about associates or possible future attacks.
U.S. Government
James Comey

The FBI's director defended the agency's request that Apple help crack the shooter's iPhone, saying investigators wouldn't be able to look survivors in their eyes if the FBI didn't pursue the lead.
Getty Images
Eileen M. Decker

The U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, Decker is the top Justice Department official fighting on behalf of the FBI in court. Decker said the court's order would help investigators uncover the motives behind the attack. “We have made a solemn commitment to the victims and their families that we will leave no stone unturned," she said.
Department of Justice
Donald Trump

The Republican presidental candidate seized on the standoff pitting Apple against national security interests, calling for a boycott of the company until it helps unlock the phone.
Getty Images
Edward Snowden

The former intelligence contractor, who leaked documents in 2013 that exposed warrantless government surveillance, called the face-off "the most important tech case in a decade" and criticized the FBI for creating a world where Apple protects citizens' rights, rather than the other way around.
Praxis Films
Sundar Pichai

Google's CEO, who is instrumental in the world's other major smartphone operating system besides Apple's, was the first major figure in Silicon Valley to express support for Cook. He said requiring companies to enable hacking of customer devices and data "could be a troubling precedent."
Getty Images
Mark Zuckerberg

The CEO of Facebook, the world's biggest social network, said his company was “sympathetic” to Apple. “We believe in encryption,” he said.
Getty Images
John McAfee

The anti-virus software businessman, who is known for his own tangles with law enforcement, said he and his team of hackers would break into Farook's iPhone for the FBI at no charge, to eliminate the need for Apple to develop another way in. "I would eat my shoe... if we could not break the encryption on the San Bernardino phone," he said.

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Apple and the U.S. government are facing off over a killer terrorist’s locked iPhone. Here are the main figures in the case

Tim Cook

Apple's CEO sparked headlines by refusing to help the FBI unlock an iPhone linked to a deadly mass shooting, shining a spotlight on a long-simmering tension between protecting either digital privacy or public safety from attacks

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Who's Who in the Apple Vs. FBI Feud (Photos)

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