“The FBI’s method for breaking into a locked iPhone 5c is unlikely to stay secret for long, according to senior Apple Inc engineers and outside experts,” Joseph Menn reports for Reuters. “Once it is exposed, Apple should be able to plug the encryption hole, comforting iPhone users worried that losing physical possession of their devices will leave them vulnerable to hackers.”
“When Apple does fix the flaw, it is expected to announce it to customers and thereby extend the rare public battle over security holes, a debate that typically rages out of public view,” Menn reports. “‘Flaws of this nature have a pretty short life cycle,’ one senior Apple engineer said. ‘Most of these things do come to light.'”
“Although Apple is concerned about consumer perception, employees said the company had made no major recent changes in policy. Instead, its engineers take pride in the fact that a program for breaking into an iPhone via the web was recently purchased by a defense contractor for $1 million, and that even that program is likely to be short-lived,” Menn reports. “They said most iPhone users have more to fear from criminals than from countries, and few crooks can afford anything like what it costs to break into a fully up-to-date iPhone.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: iOS’ vaunted security will only get stronger thanks to U.S. government overreach.
[Attribution: BGR. Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]