James Comey Still Hates Your iPhone

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James Comey was in charge of the FBI while the bureau was trying to break into the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone 5c. Under his leadership, they sued for the “right” to force Apple developers to code against their will, creating a backdoor in iOS that would be used by the FBI… and everyone else. The iPhone would instantly become prone to thieves, hackers, and would no longer be safe to use for our own politicians and ambassadors, frequent targets of hackers. On top of that, the FBI would set a precedence that would lead to every device getting a backdoor. No device would ever be secure, no encryption uncrackable, and there wouldn’t be a single secure electronic device anywhere in the world.

That was the hope of James Comey. Fortunately, he met an adversary who wouldn’t back down: the engineers and leadership at Apple. Tim Cook put is foot down and went to court to fight Comey and the FBI, who eventually backed down.

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The San Bernardino Shooter’s Phone

Of course, the FBI backed down because they paid nearly a million dollars to unlock the iPhone 5c (would only cost $15,000 today), and the unlock got them… absolutely nothing. Because the shooters destroyed the phones they actually used to plan their attack, this was a work phone. The FBI mishandled it, locked it, made it so Apple couldn’t decrypt the backup, and then demanded to violate Apple employees’ rights to get in. Comey looked a fool.

But Her Emails!

Although, it wouldn’t be the last time James Comey looked foolish. He announced that he was reopening an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails days before the election. The announcement is the single greatest factor in the outcome of the election. Donald Trump won because James Comey released the news that the FBI was looking into new evidence of Hillary’s emails. The evidence revealed nothing, as a cursory, 10-minute search would have revealed in the first place. Comey got Trump elected, and at first, there was peace. Comey was, after all, a Republican. Trump sided with the FBI against Apple, Hillary did not, therefore, Trump was the obvious choice for Comey.

Now he hates him.

Comey’s Book

Trump fired Comey for refusing to stop the investigation into Russian collusion with the Trump campaign. He stated it was for unethical behavior prior to the election, but slipped up in a later interview. Comey didn’t pledge loyalty to Trump, instead, to a Higher Loyalty, that of the United States, as he’d claim.

In his book, A Higher Loyalty, James Comey speaks to his disappointment and distrust in Donald Trump. He also takes a few shots at Apple.

“I found it appalling that the tech types couldn’t see this. I would frequently joke with the FBI “Going Dark” team assigned to seek solutions, ‘Of course the Silicon Valley types don’t see the darkness–they live where it’s sunny all the time and everybody is rich and smart.'”

-James Comey in his book A Higher Loyalty

“Going Dark” is the FBI term for a device that cannot be unlocked, even with a court order. For the record, Comey, not all techies are in sunny and warm California. Many of us are experiencing the endless winter in the North East. Others still are chilling in a flyover state.

We Need to Go Dark

Somewhere in the Bible Belt, a gay techie is glad his phone is safe from hackers, because then his parents could throw him into a conversion camp. Elsewhere, the CIA celebrates iPhone encryption as it protects an asset overseas, and the NSA is happy to know political figures are safe here. In Russia, journalists thank the tech gods for encryption, protecting them and their sources in Russia from the Kremlin and an unfortunate case of Polonium poisoning.

While Comey mocks us “rich and smart” folks (I promise, I’m definitely not rich), we’ll continue to stand up to protect not only our privacy, but our global security. Knuckle draggers who throw elections and refuse to listen to experts should probably sit down and learn something rather than mock those who, by his own—albeit sarcastic—admission, are smarter than him.

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Source: Ed Hardy, Cult of Mac