14 DAY TRIAL // The FBI and the US Department of Justice are said to be looking into new ways to obtain access to devices sold in the United States, a plan that Apple has already rejected several times.
In a new interview with the New York Times, Craig Federighi reiterates the words of several Apple officials who said on multiple occasions before that offering access to devices could compromise the security of everyone.
“Proposals that involve giving the keys to customers' device data to anyone but the customer inject new and dangerous weaknesses into product security,” he said. “Weakening security makes no sense when you consider that customers rely on our products to keep their personal information safe, run their businesses or even manage vital infrastructure like power grids and transportation systems.”
iPhone hacking
US authorities are reportedly looking into ways to get access to encrypted devices with a backdoor that wouldn’t compromise security, though it goes without saying that a way to extract information means exactly just that should the method be used by anyone else except for law enforcement.
On the other hand, the security of Apple products is a hot topic these days after a company called Grayshift has developed a device that can break into any iPhone regardless of model and the iOS version that’s powering it.
GrayKey is a hacking box capable of getting past the passcode of an iPhone and then provide access to all data stored on the device, with the process said to be taking anywhere between a few minutes to several days should more complex passwords be used.
The US Statement Department has recently purchased the device for its own secret use, as the feds are believed to be in possession of several encrypted devices that they cannot unlock to extract information. These devices are part of criminal investigations, and due to the refusal of parent companies to unlock them, the FBI is seeking alternative methods to access stored data.