The Federal Bureau of Investigation is likely creating a “master key” for breaking into Apple products, John McAfee said on Tuesday as he discussed the agency’s Monday statement that it had found an “outside party” capable of accessing a targeted device.
“It is not me, but I know exactly who it is, and what they are doing,” McAfee said on CNBC’s “Power Lunch” when asked whether he was involved with helping the agency. “And I promise you that [Apple CEO] Tim Cook and Apple are not going to be happy with the solution that the FBI has come up with, because it is almost as bad as a universal master key.”
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McAfee founded the world’s first commercial anti-virus software as part of McAfee Security, a company he later sold to Intel. Last month, he offered to assist the FBI with breaking into an iPhone used by terrorists in California if the bureau asked for his assistance, suggesting that such an action was simple. However, he said on Tuesday, what the FBI discovered more recently likely had more far-reaching consequences than his method.
“It’s not worse than a master key,” McAfee said. “It’s just that it’s much, much easier to break into a phone using this technique. It’s pure software. I’m not fond of it. I promise you that when Tim Cook finds out about it, and Apple finds out about it, they will not be happy either.”
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“The FBI is doing an end-run here, saying… Apple was going to write us a piece of software in four weeks,” he added. “If Apple can do it, good hackers can do it. Let’s do the same thing. And that’s what happened here.”
Though Apple was not exactly prepared to write that software for the FBI, the agency was seeking to compel the company to do so through legal action. A federal court ordered Apple to comply, and the company’s appeal was scheduled to be heard on Tuesday. The FBI filed for a continuance on that date on Monday, stating that it had potentially worked out the problem on its own.
A number of experts have suggested over the last month that there are methods of penetrating iPhone security that the FBI has been failing to acknowledge. McAfee’s method involved “decapping,” a method that involves taking lasers and acid to a circuit. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., lectured FBI Director James Comey during a February congressional hearing about a method that would involve duplicating the contents of the phone and hacking the duplicates.
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The director’s response to Issa’s suggestions included “I don’t know” and “I have no idea,” statements that were representative of the agency’s position until Monday.
