Former cyber czar says NSA could crack the San Bernadino shooter’s phone
Another former national security official has spoken out forcefully against the FBI's quest to get Apple to write code to unlock the iPhone 5c used by San Bernardino mass shooter Syed Farook. Richard Clarke served as the National Security Council's chief counter-terrorism advisor to three presidents (George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush) before becoming George W. Bush's special advisor on cybersecurity. He told National Public Radio's David Greene today that "encryption and privacy are larger issues than fighting terrorism," taking issue with the FBI's attempts to compel Apple's assistance.
Clarke added that if he was still at the White House, he would have told FBI Director James Comey to "call Ft. Meade, and the NSA would have solved this problem…Every expert I know believes that NSA can crack this phone." But the FBI wasn't seeking that help, he said, because "they just want the precedent."
