If the FBI found a way to hack into an iPhone without Apple's help, should we be concerned?
I'm Bridget Carey.
This is your c/net update.
Apple's brawl with the FBI is now on hold.
The FBI says it may not need Apple's help to gain access to a lock iPhone used by San Bernardino shooter Shahid Farook.
Apple and the FBI rescheduled to attend the court hearing Tuesday regarding the matter.
But it has been called off.
In a strange, last-minute twist, The US Department of Justice asked to cancel the hearing because an outside party advised the FBI that there may be a way to hack into the iPhone without getting Apple involved.
And now the court is allowing the FBI some time to try out this method.
And it will need to give a status report in two weeks.
It's on April 5th.
If the hack did not work the hearing's likely gonna be rescheduled.
This heated battle comes down to one core concept.
Can the government order a company to build software to break the security of it's own product in order to help with an investigation?
Apple has been outspoken in it's Refusal to create such a software just the other day, Apple CEO Tim Cook addressed the matter again before the unveiling of the new iPhone SC and the iPad Pro.
We didn't not expect to be in this position at odds with our own government.
But we believe strongly that we have a responsiblity To help you protect your data and protect your privacy.
We owe it to our customers, and we owe it to our country.
During the conference call with reporters on Monday evening, Apple attorney said the FBI has not told Apple how it is trying to hack into the iPhone, so Apple is still not in a great situation.
If there is a way to break into an iPhone, will the FBI ever tell Apple so the flaw can be patched?
Well, don't count on it.
Other security agencies use flaws to their advantage for surveillance.
But who is to say a hacker can't take advantage of the same trick?
When the government wants to exploit hacks, we should be asking What is it doing to also guard the security of its citizens?
Now before I end it, there is an important alert for anyone who owns a Kindle e-reader.
After Tuesday, Kindles letter are not updated to the latest software update over Wi-Fi will lose the ability to connect to the internet, Now this is for Kindle's made from 2012 and earlier But if you're locked out and you didn't upgrade, all is not lost.
You can manually download and install the update yourself by connecting the Kindle to the computer.
That does it for this tech news roundup where we always keep you updated on cnet dot com.
From our studios in New York, I'm Bridget Carey.
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