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| John McAfee offers to unlock killer's iPhone for FBI | John McAfee offers to unlock killer's iPhone for FBI |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Anti-virus software creator John McAfee has said he will break the encryption on an iPhone that belonged to San Bernardino killer Syed Farook. | Anti-virus software creator John McAfee has said he will break the encryption on an iPhone that belonged to San Bernardino killer Syed Farook. |
| Mr McAfee made the offer to the FBI in an article published by Business Insider. | Mr McAfee made the offer to the FBI in an article published by Business Insider. |
| Apple has refused to comply with a court order asking it to unlock the device, dividing opinion over whether the firm should be compelled to do so. | Apple has refused to comply with a court order asking it to unlock the device, dividing opinion over whether the firm should be compelled to do so. |
| Mr McAfee said he and his team would take on the task "free of charge". | Mr McAfee said he and his team would take on the task "free of charge". |
| The offer came as Mr McAfee continues his campaign as a US presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party. | The offer came as Mr McAfee continues his campaign as a US presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party. |
| "It will take us three weeks," he claimed in his article. | "It will take us three weeks," he claimed in his article. |
| Security expert Graham Cluley told the BBC he was sceptical of Mr McAfee's claims. | Security expert Graham Cluley told the BBC he was sceptical of Mr McAfee's claims. |
| "The iPhone is notoriously difficult to hack compared to other devices," he said. | "The iPhone is notoriously difficult to hack compared to other devices," he said. |
| 'Dead men's tales' | 'Dead men's tales' |
| For instance, Mr Cluley cast doubts on Mr McAfee's idea that he could use "social engineering" to work out the pass-code of Farook's locked iPhone. | For instance, Mr Cluley cast doubts on Mr McAfee's idea that he could use "social engineering" to work out the pass-code of Farook's locked iPhone. |
| This is a process by which hackers try to find out login credentials by tricking people into giving them away. | This is a process by which hackers try to find out login credentials by tricking people into giving them away. |
| "In a nutshell, dead men tell no tales," said Mr Cluley. "Good luck to Mr McAfee trying to socially engineer a corpse into revealing its pass-code." | "In a nutshell, dead men tell no tales," said Mr Cluley. "Good luck to Mr McAfee trying to socially engineer a corpse into revealing its pass-code." |
| "The FBI isn't interested anyway, they want to set a precedent that there shouldn't be locks they can't break," he added. | "The FBI isn't interested anyway, they want to set a precedent that there shouldn't be locks they can't break," he added. |
| In his article, Mr McAfee stated that he was keen to unlock the device because he didn't want Apple to be forced to implement a "back door" - a method by which security services could access data on encrypted devices. | |
| Chief executive of Apple Tim Cook had previously said in a statement that the firm did not want to co-operate. | |
| He argued that introducing a back door would make all iPhones vulnerable to hacking by criminals. | |
| 'I would eat shoe' | |
| Mr McAfee believes that it would be possible to retrieve data from the phone by other means - though he did not give many details of how it would be done. | |
| "I would eat my shoe on the Neil Cavuto [television] show if we could not break the encryption on the San Bernardino phone," he added. | |
| Some, including the Australian Children's eSafety Commissioner who spoke to tech website ZDNet, have said that Apple would not necessarily have to introduce a back door, but that the firm is only being asked to provide access to a single device. | |
| Tech firms' support | Tech firms' support |
| Other tech firms have rallied behind Apple's following a few days of debate over how it should respond to the FBI's request. | |
| Google boss Sundar Pichai had already expressed his support for Mr Cook and yesterday chief executive of Twitter Jack Dorsey added his approval via a tweet. | Google boss Sundar Pichai had already expressed his support for Mr Cook and yesterday chief executive of Twitter Jack Dorsey added his approval via a tweet. |
| In a statement, Facebook said it condemned terrorism and had solidarity with the victims of terror, but would continue its policy of opposing requests to diminish security. | In a statement, Facebook said it condemned terrorism and had solidarity with the victims of terror, but would continue its policy of opposing requests to diminish security. |
| "We will continue to fight aggressively against requirements for companies to weaken the security of their systems," it said. | "We will continue to fight aggressively against requirements for companies to weaken the security of their systems," it said. |
| "These demands would create a chilling precedent and obstruct companies' efforts to secure their products." | "These demands would create a chilling precedent and obstruct companies' efforts to secure their products." |