Apple vs. FBI news: Apple appeals to the public; Facebook, Twitter, Google backs up Apple

The San Bernardino shooting case caused an issue between Apple and the FBI. The iPhone of one of the shooters was recovered after the incident and the government released a court order saying that Apple should hack in to the device.

Ari Melber, MSNBC Chief Legal Correspondent, posted a copy of the order on Twitter.

Two days after, Apple's CEO Tim Cook posted a letter addressed to their customers. He said:

"The United States government has demanded that Apple take an unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers. We oppose this order, which has implications far beyond the legal case at hand. This moment calls for public discussion, and we want our customers and people around the country to understand what is at stake."

The letter discussed the U.S. government asking them to build a backdoor to the iPhone, a software that could unlock any iPhone. Apple appeals to the public about this being a matter of a public decision since it is something they consider as "too dangerous to create."

Creating the software, although the government says it would be used only once, could be recreated and be utilized on any device. This would be like being able to "hack our own users and undermine decades of security advancements that protect our customers—including tens of millions of American citizens — from sophisticated hackers and cybercriminals," Cook continued in his letter. 

Social media giants Facebook and Twitter backs up Apple's decision. In a statement of Facebook, as reported by USA Today, they said, "When we receive lawful requests from these authorities we comply. However, we will continue to fight aggressively against requirements for companies to weaken the security of their systems. These demands would create a chilling precedent and obstruct companies' efforts to secure their products."

In a tweet, founder and CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey posted his support saying, "We stand with @tim_cook and Apple (and thank him for his leadership)!"

Google CEO Sundar Pichai also posted his voice on this matter via Twitter saying, "Important post by @tim_cook. Forcing companies to enable hacking could compromise users' privacy...But that's wholly different than requiring companies to enable hacking of customer devices & data. Could be a troubling precedent."

On the other hand, Michael Hayden, the former director of both National Security Agency and Central Intelligence Agency and current principal of The Chertoff Group, told Wall Street Journal, "No encryption is unbreakable. It just takes more computing power."