Year: 2016

Lawyers representing families of the victims of the San Bernardino shooting massacre plan to file a legal brief in support of the United States Department of Justice's demand that Apple help unlock the shooter's iPhone 5c by creating a one-off version of iOS to permit brute-force attacks electronically, without the phone slowing down the process or erasing its contents after 10 failed attempts.

According to Reuters, Stephen Larson, a former federal judge who is now in private practice and represents families of the victims, was contacted a week ago by the Justice Department and local prosecutors about representing the victims, prior to the dispute becoming public.

In addition to an all-hands memo issued to troops Monday about the government's demand that it create what would basically be an 'FBiOS,' a software backdoor to help unlock San Bernardino shooter's iPhone, Apple has also posted a public Q&A on its website this morning, showing a company unwavering in its position that fulfilling the request would constitute a dangerous precedent.

Titled “Answers to your questions about Apple and security,” the webpage details the case and provides some more technical information about the government's request, while also answering some of the burning questions such as whether Apple has unlocked iPhones for law enforcement in the past.

After issuing an open letter to Apple users regarding the FBI's request to create an iPhone backdoor to help hack into the San Bernardino shooter's locked iPhone 5c, CEO Tim Cook on Monday reinforced his company's position in an internal memo to troops.

According to the all-hands memo, a copy of which was obtained by John Paczkowski of Buzz Feed, Apple wants the Justice Department to withdraw a court order that would force it to create a special version of iOS with decreased security measures.