That being said, it seems that if Apple still refuses to comply with the court order and unlocks the iPhone for the FBI, or create a backdoor, the US Department of Justice has warned that it is possible that they could force Apple to hand over the source code for iOS, in which presumably they will then be able to create their own backdoor since they know how iOS works.
According to the filing by the DOJ, “For the reasons discussed above, the FBI cannot itself modify the software on Farook’s iPhone without access to the source code and Apple’s private electronic signature. The government did not seek to compel Apple to turn those over because it believed such a request would be less palatable to Apple. If Apple would prefer that course, however, that may provide an alternative that requires less labor by Apple programmers.”
Whether or not the DOJ follows through with their thinly-veiled threat remains to be seen, but in the meantime Apple’s lawyer Bruce Sewell has since called the DOJ on their attempts to smear and vilify the company.
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