Clarke asserts that the only reason the FBI is pursuing this case is to set a legal precedent which would give them broader authority to require hacking information during investigations in the future. Here's a quote from Clarke with more of the details, "What the FBI and the Justice Department are trying to do is to make code writers at Apple – to make them write code that they do not want to write that will make their systems less secure."
Clarke also shared that a large list of intelligence officials agree with Apple on the issue. This includes the secretary of defense, "the National Security Agency director and three past National Security Agency directors, a former CIA director, [and] a former Homeland Security secretary."
Furthermore, Clarke added that every expert he knows “believes that NSA could crack this phone.” He claims that he “would have simply told the FBI to call Fort Meade, the headquarters of the National Security Agency, and NSA would have solved this problem for them.”
Clarke's final claim is that the FBI and DOJ have no interest in actually solving the problem. He believes their main goal is to set a "legal precedent,” so the government can “compel a computer device manufacturer to allow the government in.”
The second part of this news has been floating around the web for a while now, since the brouhaha began. Apple has indicated that they will now get to work on a version of iOS that is even more secure than the last one. Their intention is to create an "unhackable" iPhone.
That's not all though. Several major tech companies which have supported Apple's position will be working on greater security for their products and services as well. This includes companies like Google, Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp and several other companies, who have all made it clear that they are now working on making their apps more secure, and this action is a direct result of the FBI’s actions against Apple.
Basically, by taking this draconian approach to the situation, the FBI and the Department of Justice have created their own worst nightmare in which they have alienated most of the world's major tech companies. These companies are now doubling down on technology security which will make the FBI's job even harder in the future.
Source: NPR
