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Ex-CIA director: Apple ‘generally in the right’ on encryption, FBI not ‘very good telephone designers’

Former CIA Director James Woolsey

Speaking with CNBC’s Squawk Box, former CIA director James Woolsey gave his personal thoughts on the FBI’s request to have Apple unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino killers. Telling CNBC that the last time he looked into the situation with care, the former CIA head said he felt as though the FBI was attempting to get a right to effectively decide what kind of operating system Apple would have. Stating it wasn’t about getting into one phone, but rather to change “an important aspect of Apple’s operating system.”

Woolsey explains that having worked with the FBI in the past, he has a great deal of admiration for them, but they are not “great telephone designers” and that he doesn’t “think that is their cache.” Woolsey shies away from directly stating he sides with Apple, but believes they are “generally in the right”, although he wouldn’t describe it in the same language Apple does.

He doesn’t believe that they shouldn’t have to have backdoors in their phones as he is quite sure that courts all over the world would eventually begin saying that they each need to get into a phone for one reason or another. He thinks that this situation may have been better had a few experts from both the FBI and Apple come together and sorted it out, although we know both parties did work together before the court case went public.

When presented with the hypothetical that this phone may contain information on another terrorist cell operating within the country, Woolsey replies, “If one knew about a forthcoming terrorist threat and was trying to get information just about that from one phone, I don’t know that there would be a problem. That doesn’t seem to be what the bureau is asking for.” He believes that the FBI is asking for a restructuring of Apple’s operating system.

You can seen the full interview below:

Image Credit: CNBC

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Comments

  1. applenthusiast - 8 years ago

    I’m sorry. This is too much of a Pandora’s box and considering what revelations Snowden made regarding the bulk collection of American citizens phone records without warrants just proves that if the government is given a way to do something it will certainly end in abuse.

  2. The Government wants the keys to the kingdom. I would wrap the drive with the keys on it with 100 g prima cord and let it rip.

  3. srgmac - 8 years ago

    I’m just going to go ahead and say it — even if there was a forthcoming terrorist attack, I still would not want Apple doing this. It’s wrong. Because of the fact that terrorists exist does not mean that we should have to change the way we think about things such as liberty, freedom, privacy, and the law. We all saw what happened with the PATRIOT act — it was nonsense, and that’s actually what the terrorists wanted…They want to divide us, to destroy our society from within, to use democracy against itself…I’m not willing to standby and let that happen. Do not support any politicians, public figures or otherwise who are on the FBI/DOJ’s side here — it’s morally wrong, and IMHO, since it will make us LESS safe, it will eventually lead to the destruction of our country.

    • Paul Yoshihara - 8 years ago

      I wholeheartedly agree. 🖖🏽

    • PhilBoogie - 8 years ago

      I agree to this. If the government thinks it’s wrong to have encryption for companies to create, for users to use, why isn’t it banned? Why didn’t the government disallow it the moment Apple released iOS8, two years ago? Or made them only release v8 if they made Apple create a backdoor for them?

      No, the government is in the wrong here, and forcing Apple to create software to get into said iPhone will likely result in Apple fuçking it up and formatting the device, calling it an accident or a bug. “Hey, it’s our first shot at breaking security – we’ve never done that(!), so please forgive us in being unsuccessful” (which I think would be funny as hell).

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

    Here’s an issue that really hasn’t been discussed. The phone in question was OWNED by the County Government and user was an employee. Doesn’t Apple have their Enterprise Administration software that companies, governments can use to manage iPhones that are used by their employees? Was the County using this software? Do they not have the ability to do certain things with the administration software? I would think that at least for companies/gov using iPhones, that they should use that Admin software and if they want certain things, then they can request it to Apple and maybe will decide to include it in future releases.

    The thing is, I, like most people, are users, we aren’t LE trying to crack a case. Corporations aren’t either. What WE want is a secure device that if it falls into the wrong hands can’t be hacked into. Plain and simple.

    What I find ridiculous is to think that the ONLY way these guys can crack a case is they have to get access to the information on a smartphone. Yeah, maybe certain information, if it’s even kept on the device MIGHT help, but the thing doesn’t record conversations and they can get SMS text messages, phone call logs through the cell phone service provider. I highly doubt these criminals/terrorists are going to have a lot of critical information on a smartphone. I just don’t see it. Maybe some here and there might, but I doubt they actually will be that useful to worry about.

    They can obviously create their own contact list through the call logs, which might take a little time, but that’s available without getting access to the actual phone’s data. As far as foreign bank account info? Maybe, but doubtful. WE typically just get our bank info which hides a lot of it with things like Apple Pay, and since we have to supply our SSN, etc. when we open up a bank account, the Feds already know what US bank accounts we have. If they don’t want US citizens putting money in Swiss Accounts, then the Feds need to deal with that issue directly with the Swiss, and stop acting like losers doing a money grab because they have a difficult time managing what money they do get from high tax rates we already have to pay.