14 DAY TRIAL // Apple’s not willing to give up in the fight against the FBI over an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino attackers, explaining that if the feds really want to break into that device, they should ask the NSA and not complain to the judge and force them to do it.
In the legal response following the court ruling that ordered Apple to build software that could allow the FBI to hack the iPhone, the company explains that the government claims that building the backdoor is the only possible way to break into the device, but it hasn’t yet asked the NSA to look into the matter.
But what if the NSA can break the iPhone?
Apple pretty much suggests that the NSA has the necessary resources to hack the iPhone, and while that could indeed help the company win this dispute with the FBI, it might actually create new concerns over NSA’s powers.
“Here, by contrast, the government has failed to demonstrate that the requested order was absolutely necessary to effectuate the search warrant, including that it exhausted all other avenues for recovering information,” the motion filed by Apple reads.
“Moreover, the government has not made any showing that it sought or received technical assistance from other federal agencies with expertise in digital forensics, which assistance might obviate the need to conscript Apple to create the back door it now seeks.”
Certainly, Apple is looking into several ways to defeat the FBI in this techno-political soap opera, and according to people close to the matter, the company’s lawyers are planning to try to convince the Congress that iOS code must be protected as free speech. If nobody can force anyone to write an article in an newspaper, then nobody can force Apple engineers to write code (which would help the FBI break into the iPhone), the new logic behind Cupertino’s strategy is believed to be.
Without a doubt, FBI has its own weapons prepared for the March 1 hearing before the Congress, and Director James Comey himself seems to be very keen on having Apple break into the San Bernardino iPhone by any means.