Tech industry sides with Apple in San Bernadino iPhone case

The tech industry is on Apple’s side when it comes to the dispute with FBI over the unlocking of the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone.

This was, once again, confirmed through a research done by security vendor AlienVault. According to the company’s survey, which polled 1,500 IT security professionals, 33 percent support FBI, while the rest think unlocking the phone will do nothing but weaken overall product security.

Almost two thirds (63 percent) believes Apple should not give in to FBI’s demands.

But the opinion the surveyed have on overall security is what’s dismal here -- almost two thirds believe the government is already so intrusive and pervasive in its surveillance that it’s impossible to have a private conversation on any device.

Moreover, 34 percent believe the government should monitor mass communications for national security purposes.

"We are clearly at a turning point in the history of Internet surveillance and suspicions among those in the know are running high. IT and security professionals can see straight through the public arguments being made about the Apple case", said Javvad Malik, security advocate at AlienVault.

"Many seem to view it as a power grab by the FBI, and an attempt to gain significant new powers that could undermine the communications infrastructure used by us all. But whatever the underlying motives may be, the outcome of this case will clearly have broader implications on future government attempts to access encrypted information, and the development of legal frameworks for state surveillance powers, such as the Investigatory Powers Bill in the UK".

The FBI recently uncovered an iPhone 5c belonging to the San Bernardino shooter. The iPhone is locked and the authorities have no way of unlocking it to see if the phone has any leads on potential accomplices or future plans.

The government asked Apple to help them unlock the iPhone, and has even gone as far as to ask phone makers to build special backdoors so that law enforcement agencies could have access to the devices.

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