Apple chief executive Tim Cook said on Wednesday that the company will challenge the United States magistrate's order directing it to help the country's government hack into an encrypted phone belonging to one of the shooters in the San Bernadino violence. The ruling requires Apple to provide the Federal Bureau of Investigation with advanced software that will allow them to bypass a security feature that destroys all data on the phone if there are too many failed attempts to unlock it.

In a message on Apple's website, Cook called the move “an unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers” and an “overreach” by the US government. He said that the FBI wanted Apple to build a new version of the iPhone operating system as a backdoor to help go around security features. In the wrong hands, anyone in possession of this software will be able to unlock any iPhone, he added.

Advertisement

Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, the two accused in the shooting incident, had destroyed their phones and hidden away their computer hard drives to prevent law enforcement officials from gathering evidence against them. The order limits the FBI to using Apple's software only to break into Farook's phone. Farook and Malik had opened fire at a social agency in San Bernadino, California, in December, killing 14 people. Farook was a former employee there. The incident was first thought to be another gun control issue, but was later declared a terror attack.

According to ABC News, the ruling is a significant policy victory for the country's justice department. They have long been claiming that highly encrypted software has prevented them from unearthing key evidence in their cases and is a threat to national security. The San Bernadino incident has now provided them with the opportunity to set a legal precedent that could have long-term consequences.