The irony in the FBI’s request to unlock the iPhone

If the FBI wins its court battle to force Apple to unlock an iPhone used by one of the assailants in the San Bernardino terrorist attacks, the result could be a massive security hole that would affect many federal agencies.

Apple continues to oppose a California judge’s order to unlock security features on the iPhone used by Syed Rizwan Farook.

The FBI has argued that it only wants the data from one iPhone. Apple contends that it would have to write software that could potentially unlock any iPhone, thereby threatening the privacy of anyone who owns the smartphone.

What has largely gone unreported in the controversy, however, is that the federal government over the past four years has largely shifted its use of mobile devices from Blackberry to iPhones. The reason? The iPhone’s strong, native passcode security.

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