The legal war between the government and the tech industry has quieted down in the weeks since the highly-publicized battle between Apple and the FBI came to an anticlimactic end, but this is only temporary. FBI Director James Comey made it clear on Wednesday that the government will continue to fight tech companies in court in order to forcibly gain access to their encrypted devices and services.
FBI Director James Comey on Wednesday said the U.S. government will continue to wage legal war with tech companies to gain access to encrypted devices, intimating that such measures are weakening terror organizations like ISIL. At an FBI briefing, Comey said gaining privileged access to passcode locked — or otherwise protected — devices is an important national security concern as encryption is now “essential tradecraft” of terror groups, reports Reuters. He suggested FBI investigations, including those that involve digital evidence retrieval, are helping dissuade Americans from joining militant groups. “I think the ISIL brand has lost significant power in the United States,” Comey said, adding that his agency currently has more than 1,000 ongoing investigations into individuals in danger of being radicalized.
