American business executive Tim Cook is the Apple Inc chief executive officer. (Photo : Reuters/Robert Galbraith)
In the wake of the infamous Paris attacks, United States intelligence community implied that tech companies are interfering with their ability to detect national security threats by implementing sophisticated encryption methods to protect their data. Apple CEO Tim Cook defended his company's stance regarding data encryption in a recent interview with "60 Minutes."
During the duration of the interview, Cook laid out his argument defending the stance of his company towards the encryption of consumer data. It is important to note that Apple, together with large tech companies like Facebook and Google, denied the request of government intelligence agencies to weaken encryption on user data, according to CBS.
In a statement obtained by ReCode, Cook said, "If there's a way to get in, then somebody will find the way in. There have been people that suggests that we should have a back door. But the reality is if you put a back door in, that back door's for everybody, for good guys and bad guys."
FBI Director James Comey is one of the staunch supporter of weakening data encryption protocols on user data. Comey complained that potential attackers are using highly encrypted communication platforms in planning and launching their attacks and due to top-level encryption and the absence of a back door, authorities cannot access these data even with a warrant."
Cook said that modern devices like smartphones contain sensitive user information like health details, financial data and business secrets. The only way to protect these data is to upgrade encryption methods.
On a final note, Cook said that it will cooperate with authorities as long as they have warrants to back up their requests. However, Cook added that despite the presence of a warrant, they can only provide limited data.
