By now the stance of Apple in the recent San Bernardino killings should be well known. For those unfamiliar, the Cupertino-based company is currently embroiled with the FBI, as it does not wish to help provide access to a locked iPhone that could contain information about the killings, as ordered by a court. While the company has stated its extreme dismay at the event that resulted in 14 people being killed, it has remained firm on its stance that giving into the FBI's demands would create a precedent that could threaten the safety of all iOS users.

Aligning himself with his company's position is Apple's head of software, Craig Federighi, who recently wrote an opinion piece in the Washington Post. In the op-ed feature titled, The FBI wants to roll back safeguards that keep us a step ahead of criminals, Federighi asserted that complying with the FBI's request would in fact compromise the encryption software currently running on the majority of iOS devices, ultimately placing its all users at risk.

He noted that it would create a security hole for hackers to potentially target iOS devices. "To get around Apple’s safeguards, the FBI wants us to create a backdoor in the form of special software that bypasses passcode protections, intentionally creating a vulnerability that would let the government force its way into an iPhone," writes Federighi. Adding, "Once created, this software — which law enforcement has conceded it wants to apply to many iPhones — would become a weakness that hackers and criminals could use to wreak havoc on the privacy and personal safety of us all."

While we wait for a Supreme Court ruling to be made, the consequence of this case could indeed have an effect on all software companies, as well as the nature of encryption and consumer data in general. As such, Apple's counterparts have sided with them, as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and others have endorsed Apple's position.