Apple engineers say they will quit before agreeing to unlock the iPhone

The ongoing battle between Apple and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) continues in a California courtroom and the court of public opinion. If the FBI prevails, it will be granted judicial approval to either force Apple to create a customized bootloader to pierce through the security of the iPhone used in the San Bernardino shooting, or compel the company to hand over its source code so the bureau can do the job itself.

But if the agency wins, it may run into another road block: Apple’s engineers. When interviewed, many engineers indicated that they would simply refuse to complete the work or quit their jobs altogether rather than move forward on the request.

While theoretical reports like this don’t necessarily speak for what people will actually do when the circumstance arrives, it does take into consideration how seriously Apple has implemented its arguments. The FBI has pointed to Apple’s strategy as strictly a marketing decision, but their argument may not hold to be true, given how much consumers care about security. The company does not promote encryption as an essential iPhone feature and doesn’t sell it as an important differentiating factor over its competitors’ operating systems.

If the Department of Justice (DOJ) attempts to have Apple force over the source code to the government, we may be looking at another legal battle. The DOJ has done an exceptional job at keeping its legal tactics out of the public eye up until now. Only thanks to Edward Snowden do we know companies were forced to cooperate with the NSA in the Prism program. Public coverage and opinion on whether Apple or he FBI is in the right has been evenly split. If the battle escalates by forcing Apple to turn over its source code, that may be a fight the DOJ doesn’t care to pick. The primary reason it took this case public in the first place, is because it hoped to establish precedence against Apple.

Since Snowden’s exposure of the NSA spy programs, there’s been a significant divide between companies whose role it is to secure information and the government. Apple is reportedly looking into building devices that would be impenetrable to the unlock methods the FBI is asking for in the San Bernardino case. While the government may win this battle, it could ultimately lose the war.

Source: ExtremeTech