Amid a raging digital security debate sparked by Apple's fight to protect encryption FBI, the Senate Intelligence Committee is said to be working on legislation that would criminalize companies unwilling to comply with court-ordered decryption requests.
Calling it a "black day and the beginning of the end of the U.S. as a world power," software developer John McAfee criticized the FBI on Thursday for attempting to force Apple to build a backdoor to access data from a terrorist's iPhone, saying that he will decrypt the handset himself for free.
Digital animators in Taiwan have turned the legal case between Apple and the FBI into an animated movie short that clearly depicts key details and potential ramifications of the issue that even many industry pundits have had trouble grasping.
Internet rights advocacy group Fight for the Future held a rally outside a flagship San Francisco Apple Store on Wednesday in a show of support as Apple resists government pressure to implement software backdoors.
The resolute position of Apple's chief executive Tim Cook to defend the security of iOS encryption has drawn a sharp contrast with the deafening silence from Google, Microsoft and their hardware partners in Korea and China, where individuals' security and privacy are commonly overlooked as being a critical feature.
U.S. legislators, public rights groups and security experts are planting their collective flags in a debate that could have serious ramifications for the future of consumer encryption sparked by a recent court order forcing Apple to aid in the decryption of an iPhone linked to the San Bernardino terrorist attack,
The White House has taken issue with Apple's suggestion that creating a backdoor to iOS would threaten the security of all its customers, instead arguing that the issue applies to just one iPhone in question.
Surprise right-wing presidential candidate Donald Trump weighed in on Apple's fight with the U.S. government on Wednesday, saying the iPhone maker should acquiesce to the FBI's demands and dismissing company CEO Tim Cook's argument that such action would set a dangerous precedent.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook has promised to oppose a court order that would have the company create a compromised version of iOS with weakened encryption, the result of FBI requests for help in accessing data stored on an iPhone 5c used by a gunman in the San Bernardino shooting.
A U.S. magistrate judge on Tuesday ordered Apple to comply with FBI requests to help extract data from an iPhone owned by one of the shooters involved in December's terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif.
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Mikey Campbell
AppleInsider Staff
Daniel Eran Dilger
Neil Hughes
