14 DAY TRIAL // The San Bernardino iPhone case has led to concerns that the FBI could eventually obtain software that could be used to break into any smartphone in the United States, so Apple is trying to prevent such worries in the future by strengthening the security of its devices.
Part of this plan is to build an iPhone that nobody can hack, not even itself, and this involves beefing up the security not only of the device itself but also of the services that Apple offers and that customers activate on the phone. These services, including iCloud, could ultimately be used by the FBI or by Apple itself when a court order was issued.
A report by WSJ reveals that one of the ways that Apple wants to avoid being asked to break into an iPhone is to make the device impossible to hack, which would basically mean that the FBI cannot require the company to brute-force attack a phone because that would be impossible.
Bolstering iCloud encryption
And one method of doing that is to bolster the encryption system currently used on iCloud, which serves as the one destination for iPhone backups, including photos and conversations on iMessage.
Apple has been previously asked to get access to iCloud backups and provide them to authorities, but the service has also been mentioned in backdoor development requests, as the company is believed to be able to break into a phone using the cloud-based storage.
The company, however, wants to patch this system too and thus make it impossible to break into an iPhone by no longer holding the encryption keys for iCloud accounts.
Right now, Apple stores such information to provide users with assistance should they need to recover information stored in the cloud (when trying to repair an iPhone, for instance), so if the company gives up on them, it could no longer aid customers seeking information in their accounts.
Apple is trying to find a balance between better security and recovery systems for users in order to make sure that the company and its customers are no longer targeted by backdoor requests similar to those in the San Bernardino case.
Whether the company can do this and, more importantly, if it’s allowed to do that still remains to be seen, but it’s very clear that Apple isn’t willing to just sit and watch the FBI hunting down its customers.