Skip to main content

Apple makes interesting security hire as it compares FBI request to forcing pharma firm to make lethal drugs

TechCrunch spotted an interesting security hire by Apple: the developer behind Edward Snowden’s recommended secure chat app is joining Apple as an intern.

Frederic Jacobs, a Switzerland-based developer who worked to develop secure messaging app Signal […] announced today that he is joining the Cupertino-based company this summer to work in its CoreOS security team. 

As the site notes, Signal passed every security test when put through its paces by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and you can’t really get a better endorsement than the fact that Snowden trusts it.

Apple is also ramping up its incredibly strong language in arguing its position against the FBI …

After Tim Cook said that creating the special code the FBI wanted would amount to the “software equivalent of cancer,” Gizmodo noted the analogy Apple used in its motion to vacate the court order.

Under the same legal theories advocated by the government here, the government could argue that it should be permitted to force citizens to do all manner of things “necessary” to assist it in enforcing the laws, like compelling a pharmaceutical company against its will to produce drugs needed to carry out a lethal injection in furtherance of a lawfully issued death warrant.

As we noted yesterday, Apple also cleverly refers to the code the FBI would like it to write as ‘GovtOS.’ Apple may not yet have persuaded the public (unlike 9to5Mac readers), but I’d have to say it’s winning the war of words.

You can catch up on anything you missed in our full coverage of the case to date.

Photo: The Verge

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

  1. Rich Davis (@RichDavis9) - 8 years ago

    Why is Tim Cook using dumb analogies? I think Tim Cook should have given a more technical reason and explanation that the average consumer could understand rather than an analogy. It makes him sound like a politician that uses Sound Bites.

    • Because the general populace isn’t technically savvy. Most people that have iPhones don’t even know what iCloud is, let alone who Tim Cook is. It makes sense, ELI5. Keep it simple.

    • Chris Hionis - 8 years ago

      I think he is giving these analogs because most of the population wouldn’t understand the technical reasons and some people automatically tune out when they feel that someone is over complicating things, talking over them, or making them feel stupid.

    • Doug Aalseth - 8 years ago

      Actually I think that is a very good analogy. Clear, simple, something the average American can get their head around, (which is saying a lot).

      • TechSHIZZLE.com - 8 years ago

        Exactly.

        The average non-techie consumer tunes out as soon as the conversation gets too technical. That’s why the FBI’s position is so quickly supported by the general public-it’s much easier to say “Terrorists bad, Apple protecting terrorists” than to give a technical explanation of secure enclaves and encryption.

        And certainly the general news outlets don’t have the time nor expertise to present a cogent and accurate reporting of the issues, so quick and simple sound bites get reported, which favors the FBI position.

        In addition, Apple’s argument is very abstract, which is not easy to both explain by Apple and be understood by the general public. The FBI’s argument is very concrete and visible in that they have dead bodies and a phone they can point to and say, “There it is, just unlock this one phone.”

        These add up to a very tough, uphill battle for Apple in the court of public opinion.

        The best way for Apple to make it’s case understandable to the layperson is by analogy. I do think this one about the pharma company is better than the cancer analogy, though, that Tim kept repeating during the David Muir interview.

    • greenberrywoods - 8 years ago

      Because the requested change, to iOS, that the FBI has made is so simple for Apple to make, that he wants to make it sound complicated and dangerous, which it’s not. The changes requested to be made are: 1. Change a value for the number of retries allowed before the phone flash memory is wiped. (change to something over 1,000,000) 2. Change a value multiplier used to make the user wait until they can reenter their pin. (change multiplier to 1). 3. Recompile OS and then 4. Put that OS on the phone in question. 5. FBI uses brute force, up to 1,000,000 tries, to unlock phone. OS doesn’t leave Apple. Phone content accessed. That’s it.

  2. Grayson Mixon - 8 years ago

    I like to think of this way. The US developed atomic weapons because we were in a crisis, and we had to win the war. They thought that they could maintain control of the technology.

    Then Russia got atomic weapons, and the Cold War started.

    Now, we are worried about North Korea and Iran with nuclear weapons.

    It could be argued that atomic weapons have caused far more problems, and deaths (because of the nuclear stalemate and proxy wars) than a ground invasion of Japan would have cost.

  3. William D - 8 years ago

    The guy is swiss based but belgium. Belgium deserves credit here! (It’s worth noting too not to get over excited – he’s ‘just’ a summer intern hire, for now… Let’s hope APple can keep him on. I’m sure he’ll bring talent to the team.

    They will need as many as possible engers given that half a dozen are going to be making GovtOS for weeks on end..

  4. Jake Becker - 8 years ago

    The Signal guy! Nice.

  5. John Smith - 8 years ago

    Apple becoming ever more desperate (and ridiculous) as their policy of protecting the rights of criminals is exposed.

    The FBI is not wanting to force a corporation to kill someone.

    The FBI is wanting a corporation to stop obstructing the investigation of a criminal who did kill 14 people.

    Apple is clearly part of the problem not part of the solution and needs to be treated as such.

    • 89p13 - 8 years ago

      Do Not Feed the Troll!

      Same Old Troll – Same Old Argument!

      Starve a Troll – Keep the Boards Clear!

    • chasinvictoria - 8 years ago

      … and that’s a view someone who has clearly not studied the issue too much can have.

  6. 89p13 - 8 years ago

    ” but I’d have to say it’s (apple) winning the war of words.”

    Real discussion and valid point (Apple) versus Straw Man Arguments and Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt (government lackeys)

  7. mytawalbeh - 8 years ago

    very simple: public they don’t understand the consequences for this order, unlike 9to5 readers.
    watch the verge street interviews with public and you would notice that almost no one knows about this case in detail, after they were told what would happen next for them as normal user, they all refuted and sided with Apple’s stance.

  8. Abedoss - 8 years ago

    I think this hire has no linking to the FBI case, I think it’s all about bringing iMessage & FaceTime to Android in a secure way.

Author

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


Ben Lovejoy's favorite gear