Apple’s highly publicized battle against the FBI is stirring up the concept of security quite a bit. Because of this, iCloud could be getting a serious facelift. A recent report shows that the company is working on beefing up security measures for the cloud service. This would not only block access from Apple but law enforcement as well. The work is still in its early stages but this could be another huge blow to the FBI if it’s completed.
1. IT’S ALL OR NOTHING FOR APPLE
In the past, Apple and even law enforcement could have access to iCloud, but Apple hopes to sacrifice themselves to change that. By changing these security measures, both Apple and law enforcement would be blocked out of the cloud and data would be complete protected.
2. YOU’RE SCREWED IF YOU FORGET YOUR PASSCODE
In the past, Apple was able to restore data to users who forgot their password. If this new security measure goes through, then it would be impossible for Apple to access that data. So don’t forget your passcode anymore.
3. US POLICE ROUTINELY ASK FOR iCLOUD ACCESS
While this scenario is getting the most recent amount of press, these kinds of scenarios have been going on for a while. Apple has routinely cooperated with law enforcement in the past when they required access to iCloud. The first half of 2015 alone had more than 1,400 inquiries into the matter. They aren’t alone either. Microsoft, Google, and others have worked with law enforcement in terms of data access, but that is due to change. Hopefully.
4. ACCESS TO DATA WAS INSANELY EASY
A recent Microsoft case challenged US Police and their right to seize data. The reason for this was because it was just too easy for law enforcement. Most cases just required a court order to retrieve the data. Seeing how easy a court order can be obtained, Microsoft and others rightfully assumed this was unfair.
5. THE FBI MESSED UP BIG TIME
Half the reason that the FBI is so concerned with iCloud security is because they messed it up in the first place. Thanks to a forensic error in resetting the San Bernardino killer’s iPhone, further retrieval of data was impossible. For this reason, the FBI needs to gain legal access into iCloud to get the facts they missed. The thing is, that’s illegal for now. Let’s hope Apple keeps it that way.
