In his newly released book, A Higher Loyalty, fired FBI director James Comey writes about President Trump while also addressing other aspects of his career, including his strong objection to Apple’s (and Apple’s followers’) encryption efforts.
“When Apple and Google announced in 2014 that they would be moving their mobile devices to default encryption, by emphasizing that making them immune to judicial orders was good for society, ‘it drove me crazy,’ he writes,” Marcus Baram reports for Fast Company. “He goes on to lament the lack of ‘true listening’ between tech and law enforcement, saying that ‘the leaders of the tech companies don’t see the darkness the FBI sees,’ such as terrorism and organized crime.”
MacDailyNews Note: Apple, as usual, did it first. Google, as usual, just followed Apple’s lead:
Me-too Google: Uh, okay, we’ll do default encryption like Apple, too (it’ll just take several years to roll out) – September 18, 2014
I found it appalling that the tech types couldn’t see this. I would frequently joke with the FBI “Going Dark” team assigned to seek solutions, “Of course the Silicon Valley types don’t see the darkness – they live where it’s sunny all the time and everybody is rich and smart.” — James Comey
“President Trump’s views on the issue remain unclear,” Baram reports. “During the FBI/Apple’s standoff over the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone, Trump denounced the company and called for a boycott. But while other top cabinet officials, like Attorney General Jeff Sessions, have been outspoken about the need to ‘overcome encryption,’ the president hasn’t said much on the subject.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: When we called James Comey “the FBI’s idiot in chief” over two years ago, we meant it.
SEE ALSO:
President Trump fires FBI Director James Comey who called for iPhone backdoor – May 9, 2017
FBI’s James Comey: ‘There is no such thing as absolute privacy in America’ – March 8, 2017
WikiLeaks reveals CIA’s global covert hacking program targeting Apple iPhone, Google Android, Microsoft Windows and even Samsung TVs – March 7, 2017
Proving Apple’s assertion that there are no good backdoors, hacker dumps iOS cracking tools allegedly stolen from Cellebrite – February 2, 2017
A hacker just proved that Apple was right to worry about creating a backdoor to the iPhone – January 13, 2017
Apple CEO Tim Cook touts encryption at Senator Orrin Hatch’s Utah Tech Tour – October 3, 2016
Feckless FBI unable to unlock iPhone, even with a ‘fingerprint unlock warrant’ – May 12, 2016
FBI’s Comey says agency paid more than $1 million to access San Bernadino iPhone – April 21, 2016
Nothing significant found on San Bernardino’s terrorist’s iPhone – April 14, 2016
FBI director confirms hack only works on older iPhones that lack Apple’s Secure Enclave – April 7, 2016
Apple responds to FBI: ‘This case should have never been brought’ – March 29, 2016
