The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's director has spoken out and clarified that they simply want to conduct an investigation and not "break anyone's encryption" as alleged.
On Sunday, Director James Comey responded to the ongoing debate pertaining to the legal route the agency has taken to compel Apple to unlock San Bernardino gunman's iPhone. He revealed that the move was not intended to set any precedent or send any message.
Comey explains that the search warrant was for guessing the passcode, but to make sure that the phone will not self-destruct because of too many incorrect guesses. According to experts, it could take a decade to crack a very strong password.
"We don't want to break anyone's encryption or set a master key loose on the land. I hope thoughtful people will take the time to understand that. Maybe the phone holds the clue to finding more terrorists. Maybe it doesn't. But we can't look the survivors in the eye, or ourselves in the mirror, if we don't follow this lead," he said.
On Dec. 2, 2015, Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik, marched into the Inland Regional Center and gunned down several co-workers in the San Bernardino County Public Health Department.
With 14 dead and 22 injured, the scale of the attack warrants that the authorities investigate all leads, which include a review of Farook's iPhone 5c. The county said that it has worked in tandem with FBI officials to reset the password on the iCloud account on the suspect's phone.
Investigators need Farook's password to assist them in unlocking the iPhone. The problem is that data on the device will be wiped completely post 10 failed attempts to break the code. Apple has revealed that it will be unable to decrypt iPhone.
"There's no limit to what the government could require Apple to do if it succeeds this way," said Ted Olson, Apple's attorney. "[R]ecreating code, changing its iPhone, putting its engineers and creative talents to destroy the iPhone as it exists."
The FBI director's statement follows the remarks that the agency's request could potentially compromise the privacy of several Apple users.
