海角大神

In a bold act of defiance Tuesday, Apple refused to comply with a federal court order forcing the company to help the FBI break into the iPhone of one of the two San Bernardino, Calif., shooters, calling the implications of the government鈥檚 demands "chilling."

鈥淥pposing this order is not something we take lightly,鈥� wrote Apple CEO Tim Cook in a statement to customers hours after the Federal District Court for the District of Central California ordered it to build software that would disable some security features of the iPhone 5c that belonged to Syed Rizwan Farook.

Mr. Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, were killed by police after they brutally massacred 14 people at a holiday party in San Bernardino in December.

鈥淲e feel we must speak up in the face of what we see as an overreach by the US government,鈥� .

As part of its ongoing investigation of the San Bernadino shootings, the FBI says it has not been able to hack Farook鈥檚 phone, after many attempts. The agency wants Apple鈥檚 help because it is worried that the phone鈥檚 security features will block it from the data permanently after it fails 10 times to login with the wrong password.

But to Apple, the current order is a harbinger of bad things to come. The company says there is no way to ensure that building a software to help the FBI turn off the security features of Farook鈥檚 iPhone would be used just once on that phone.

Essentially, building the software would amount to giving the government a permanent way to get around the company鈥檚 encryption software, says Apple, something the company has vehemently fought, claiming that creating a 鈥渂ackdoor鈥� for the government means opening a backdoor for everyone聽鈥� hackers, terrorists and other criminals.

鈥淭he government suggests this tool could only be used once, on one phone. But that鈥檚 simply not true,鈥� Cook wrote.

鈥淥nce created, the technique could be used over and over again,鈥� he said, 鈥渙n any number of devices. In the physical world, it would be the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks 鈥� from restaurants and banks to stores and homes. No reasonable person would find that acceptable.鈥�

Apple鈥檚 defiance comes at a time when the technology community is fiercely fending off the government鈥檚 efforts 鈥� and not just in the US聽鈥� to convince these companies by ingratiation or by force to make it easier for intelligence to eavesdrop on their customers by creating 鈥渂ackdoors鈥� to their encrypted products.

The government says it needs the cooperation of companies that are using increasingly more sophisticated encryption technologies, such as Apple, Facebook, and Google, to nab criminals and terrorists.

鈥淓ncryption is making it harder for your government to find criminal activity, and potential terrorist activity,鈥� US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told tech leaders at a conference in late April, echoing similar messages from National Security Agency chief Adm. Mike Rogers and FBI Director James Comey, as 海角大神 has reported.

鈥淲e need your help to find the solution,鈥� Secretary Johnson said.

But the solution is not a backdoor for the US government, say tech companies, which are concerned any future policy of this nature would set a bad precedent for other governments around the globe, and leave their customers vulnerable to government spying and intrusions from hackers.

As The New York Times reports, the FBI, instead of asking Congress to pass legislation to resolve the encryption debate, has asked the courts for what Apple calls an of the , which lets judges 鈥渋ssue all writs necessary or appropriate in aid of their respective jurisdictions and agreeable to the usages and principles of law.鈥�

According to , Apple can appeal the FBI鈥檚 request.

鈥淭o the extent that Apple believes that compliance with this Order would be unreasonably burdensome, it may make an application to this Court for relief within five business days of receipt of the Order,鈥� the order says.