The legal battle between Apple and the U.S. government to make it easier for the FBI to gain access to a locked iPhone spotlights some particular concerns for chief information officers. While some officials argue the steps the FBI wants Apple to take – by invoking the All Writs Act of 1789 – are just limited to a device connected to Syed Rizwan Farook, a suspect who died in the mass shooting that took place in San Bernardino, Apple cautions “there is no way to guarantee such control.”
Earlier this week, Sheri Pym, a federal magistrate judge in Riverside, Calif., ruled that Apple needs to provide “reasonable technical assistance” to the FBI so the auto-erase function on iPhones would be erased or disabled; the FBI can submit passcodes to the phones for testing; the submitted passcodes will not cause any additional delay; and if need be Apple will provide the government with remote access to the device through a computer so the government can conduct passcode recovery analysis.
