Linked List: March 3, 2016

Thursday, 3 March 2016

Apple Hosts Public Letter From San Bernardino Victim to Judge Sheri Pym (PDF) ★

Salihin Kondoker:

When I first learned Apple was opposing the order I was frustrated that it would be yet another roadblock. But as I read more about their case, I have come to understand their fight is for something much bigger than one phone. They are worried that this software the government wants them to use will be used against millions of other innocent people. I share their fear.

I support Apple and the decision they have made. I don’t believe Tim Cook or any Apple employee believes in supporting terrorism any more than I do. I think the vicious attacks I’ve read in the media against one of America’s greatest companies are terrible.

The battle is being fought both in the courtroom, and in the court of public opinion. Support like this helps Apple with the latter — which in turn helps with the former.

Box Chief Information Security Officer’s Perspective on Apple and the FBI ★

Joel de la Garza:

I’ve been working to help secure computer systems for the entirety of my professional career. It is incredibly difficult to build computer systems that are not vulnerable to attack. As we’ve seen, a number of companies and governments have had great difficulty protecting the front door of their computer systems. I’ve dedicated my career to making sure our systems are designed, built, and operated to the most secure standards. And even with that tremendous investment, bugs still happen. Due to the many layers of security controls built into our systems software bugs are usually not damaging or catastrophic in nature. But peeling away those layers of control to create a backdoor means that even the most basic security bug could potentially have a catastrophic effect. This reality is missing from our current debate about the FBI’s order to Apple in the San Bernardino tragedy.

@AppleSupport ★

Neat: Apple has a new Twitter account for tips, tricks, and support. Right now they’re answering 3-4 questions per minute.

Full Frontal With Samantha Bee ★

Four episodes in and I’m loving this show. The no-desk thing threw me off at first — the staging has a Tosh.0 vibe — but it works. The show has a fast pace and Bee jabs hard. A desk is leisurely, and Full Frontal is anything but.