Tim Cook hits back at 'chilling' FBI request for iPhone 'backdoor' - CNET

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Apple boss Tim Cook has publicly denounced an FBI request to build a new version of iOS he claims could potentially crack any iPhone, calling the request "chilling."

On Tuesday a judge ordered Apple to assist investigators in unlocking an iPhone linked to December's terrorist attack in San Beadino, Califoia. But in an open letter posted on the company's website, the Apple CEO was that the proposed measures amount to the creation of a "backdoor" into encrypted devices that would "undermine the very freedoms and liberty our govement is meant to protect."

According to Cook, "the US govement has asked us for something we simply do not have, and something we consider too dangerous to create. They have asked us to build a backdoor to the iPhone."

Encryption is a huge source of tension between private technology companies and law enforcement agencies. Companies such as Apple, Google and WhatsApp protect the privacy of their customers by encrypting your data, often in a way that even the companies themselves cannot unscramble. Although that allows unscrupulous users such as criminals or terrorists to communicate in secret away from the prying eyes of govement surveillance, tech companies justify such security measures by insisting that it's impossible to allow law enforcement agencies to crack encryption without opening the door for criminals to do the same.

The proposed measures will bypass security functions that limit how many times you can enter an incorrect password. Currently, an iPhone wipes itself if the wrong password is entered 10 times in a row. With that feature disabled, investigators could carry out a "brute force" attack -- simply entering password after password until they hit on the correct one.