Apple engineers are busy developing security measures that would prevent government officials from breaking into locked iPhones . According to reports, the security upgrade would further secure customers’ information from being accessed by the government.
This step by the company comes after a federal court fight
in California in which the Obama administration has won its fight over access
to data stored in an iPhone used by one of the terrorists in November's San
Bernardino attacks. In this case, the Justice Department is asking Apple to
hack its own code.
FBI Director James Comey said that they defend the
government’s request to have Apple open the iPhone to them. He added that they
are only looking for assistance in this case.
But, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook, in a letter to its users, wrote
that their devices have been created so that even Apple employees cannot access
the contents of users' iPhones.
“The U.S. government has asked us for something we simply do
not have, and something we consider too dangerous to create,” Cook said in a
letter to users.
Meanwhile, experts say that the only way to get a way out in
this scenario is to get the Congress involved. “We are in for an arms race
unless and until Congress decides to clarify who has what obligations in situations
like this,” Benjamin Wittes, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told
The Times.