Apple CEO Tim Cook: FBI's Backdoor Would Be 'Software Equivalent of Cancer'

Apple CEO Tim Cook today spoke with ABC News anchor David Muir, explaining Apple's decision to object to the court order that would require it to help the FBI break into the iPhone owned by Syed Farook, one of the shooters in the December attack in San Bernardino, California.

In the interview, Cook reiterated much of what he wrote in the open letter where he announced Apple's plans to stand against the government and oppose the order to create a backdoor into iOS devices.

According to Cook, the software the FBI wants to use to brute force the passcode on Farook's iPhone would be "the equivalent of cancer" that has the potential to put hundreds of millions of Apple's customers at risk.

The only way to get information -- at least currently, the only way we know -- would be to write a piece of software that we view as sort of the software equivalent of cancer. We think it's bad news to write. We would never write it. We have never written it. And that is what is at stake here.

He went on to say that the fulfilling the FBI's request could set a precedent that eventually leads to weaker smartphone encryption. "If a court can ask us to write this piece of software, think about what else they could ask us to write," said Cook. "I don't know where this stops. But I do know this is not what should be happening in this country."

Cook says Apple has cooperated fully with the FBI, giving all of the information that it could provide. He said opposing the government "doesn't feel right" and that it's a "very uncomfortable position." He also expressed deep sympathy for the families impacted by the attack and said he wished the FBI had contacted Apple before changing the Apple ID password on the phone, making it impossible to get an additional iCloud backup. According to Cook, Apple first heard about the FBI's initial filing from the press.

"We gave everything we had. We don't know that there's any information on the phone. We don't know whether there is or there isn't. And the FBI doesn't know. What we do know is we passed all of the information that we have on the phone and to get additional information on it or at least what the FBI would like us to do now would expose hundreds of millions of people to issues.""

Cook explained that Apple is not just protecting the data on one phone, it's protecting the data on the devices of all of its customers. He says if Apple knew a way to get the information on the phone that would not expose millions of customers to issues, the company would do it. "This is about the future," he said. "As people understand what is at stake here, an increasing number support us."

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