If you have been keeping up with the news lately – or even if you haven’t – you have probably still heard a bit about the legal faceoff between Apple Inc and the FBI regarding iPhone encryption and privacy rights. Working Nets is here with to fill you in on some details about the privacy battle between Apple and the FBI.
The Apple-FBI Case
The case surrounds the San Bernardino shooting in December, where Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife killed 14 people at his place of employment – the San Bernardino Department of Public Health. The FBI has reason to believe that Farook’s work iPhone may have contain valuable data regarding his motives, but the phone is password protected. If the wrong password is entered more than 10 times, all data on the phone will be erased. FBI has formally requested that Apple writes a new operating system, the “FBI-OS,” that overrides the disable setting after 10 incorrect password attempts. As of now, Apple refuses to do so, implying that it sets a bad precedent. According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, if this happens, authorities everywhere will start to demand a “magic key” to unlock private data from their citizen’s personal devices.
Essentially, the FBI is not asking Apple to give up Farook’s password. What they are asking, is that Apple write a code that disables the erase setting to allow the FBI to work their magic and guess the password themselves. The case marches on.
Privacy: What Does This Mean?
Privacy rights regarding technology continue to be a hot issue in the tech industry – this just being the first case to break in such a major way in a long time. How will this affect citizens around the world? It’s hard to say at this moment. What we do know is that privacy standards are in place because citizens have a right to expect them, and good encryption is essential to prevent data theft in the event of a stolen phone. However, we also recognize that law enforcement agencies have legitimate needs. Is your data protected?
Allow Working Nets To Be Of Cyber Service To You
At Working Nets, we know that handling the cybersecurity for a business while actually keeping that business running can seem impossible, especially in the daunting face of cyber-attacks against much larger businesses. Outsourcing your IT can give you peace of mind and allow you to take care of the things that are important for your company. Working Nets is a Maryland based IT Service and Security company that services small businesses nationwide. We’re always on top of emerging cyber security trends and threats so you don’t have to be.
To talk to someone about managed IT for your business, give us a call at (443) 992-7394. We’d be happy to assist you with your professional business networking needs.
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