The US government has recently produced a court order for Apple to create a back door to their next version of iOS and Apple has decided to fight the order. Tim Cook has written an open letter to the world outlining the dangers of doing so.
http://www.apple.com/customer-letter/
In a world where cyberterrorism is rampant and there’s not much we can do about it, I find it also dangerous to create a security hole when tech companies are incredibly focussed on plugging security holes. It seems completely counter-intuitive to the battle for a safer cyberworld.
Now I believe who heartedly that our law enforcement have good intentions for the use of such a back door. I also firmly believe in and support our police forces and have the utmost respect for anyone that wears a uniform and braves the world each and every day. Despite the negative attention that police forces have come under by a few bad apples. I firmly believe that when I’m in trouble that the police will be there to help me.
But I have to say that giving backdoors to our tech is a dangerous idea. Not because of privacy reasons but instead because we are opening a door for hackers to exploit. Has the government learned nothing from the cyberwar being waged on it? Creating a door to allow law enforcement to access is not the issue, its how long will it take for a hacker to find a way to pry that door open?
Consider the scenario where a hacker has successfully penetrated the back door, what could the find?
- Access to personal emails.
- iTunes account information
- Personal photos, photos of children, photos amongst spouses?
- Banking information / access to the banking app on the phone
- Credit card information linked to their Apple Pay account.
- So much more…
So if there is a breach, who would be liable? Apple or the US government? How many tax dollars would it take to cover litigation costs that could have been spent on the basics such as clean water or better quality healthcare and education?
In their letter, Apple has reaffirmed that they always have and always will support law enforcement in their investigations, noting that they have handed over data when subpoenaed and made their engineers available to assist investigators as needed.
So what can you do as the average iPhone user?
- Support Apple CEO Tim Cook in his endeavour by writing to your congress representative.
- Support the EFF – Electronic Frontier Foundation in their efforts to support Apple
- Consider what data you place on your phone. Up until now I have always touted that Apple is much safer to use than Android because of their vetting process for apps. Their guidelines ensure that you don’t end up with an app that has a virus. Android on the other hand doesn’t vet their apps and has had to take down a few after finding out that they contained virus’ or malware.
So there you have it, a new battle is brewing between Apple and the government and it will be interesting to see if any other tech companies join in the fight.
Until next time, stay safe online.