Apple rehires the man who build Blackphone to help create unhackable iPhone

To fortify the security of its iPhone even further, Apple has managed to rehire a top expert in practical cryptography to bring more powerful security features to a wide range of consumer products. So who is this famous individual who is responsible for creating a virtually unhackable phone? It’s Jon Callas and he also co-founded several well-respected secure communications companies including PGP, Silent Circle and Blackphone. Now, he has rejoined Apple, but he has had a series of tenures with the company before.

Callas had worked at Apple in the 1990s and again between 2009 and 2011, when he designed an encryption system to protect data stored on a Macintosh computer. With the FBI lunging on Apple’s throat to provide them with the encryption to unlock the company’s iPhones, Apple is going to be quite nervous over the fact that these government-run agencies are going to be doing everything in their power to unlock these iOS-running devices.

The FBI and law enforcement has stated that tech companies need to help the government hunt criminals and they should do this by circumventing their own encryption. However, most companies are under the impression that by circumventing the encryption, they would be undermining the security of their products and make them more vulnerable to malicious hackers. Callas has said he is against companies being compelled by law enforcement to break into their own encrypted products, which could be a reason why he joined Apple in the first place.

However, he has also said that he supports a proposal under which law enforcement officials with a court order can take advantage of undisclosed software vulnerabilities to hack into tech systems, but only if then end up disclosing the vulnerabilities afterwards so they can be patched.

Apple has said it would continue to increase the security of its products like iPhone, iPad etc. and other companies have also joined the tech giant in this battle against the government. Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging service has also implemented an encryption that makes it harder for law enforcement to access digital information.

With Jon Callas on board, it looks like the FBI and other security agencies are going to have to find some other way to break encryption in Apple’s upcoming iPhone 7, and it was already difficult for them to do that before.