Apple hires developer of World's Most Secure Messaging App

Developer behind world’s most secure messaging app joins Apple

Signal is the world's most secure messaging app. 
Photo: Open Whisper Systems

Apple is serious this time to enhance its iPhone security that even it can not hack. To achieve this the company has hired one of the key developers of  Signal — World's most secure, open source and encrypted messaging app.

Frederic Jacobs, who worked to develop Signal, announced today that he is joining Apple this summer to work as an intern in its CoreOS security team.

"I'm delighted to announce that I accepted an offer to be working with the CoreOS security team at Apple this summer," Jacobs tweeted Thursday.

 
One of the iPhone-maker’s most recent hires, Frederic Jacobs, was previously a lead developer for Signal, which has earned a name as one of the most secure messaging apps available. It’s so good, it’s become a favorite of former NSA-contractor Edward Snowden who says he uses it everyday.

Apple has not commented on the recent hire, but Jacobs sent out a tweet on Thursday morning detailing his new post with Apple’s Core OS security team. The position is an internship but no details were given on how long Jacobs will be working in Cupertino.

Plans to make the iPhone security tougher than ever were supposedly underway even before the FBI’s demands that Apple unlock the San Bernardino terrorist’s iPhone. In an appearance on ABC’s World News Tonight Tim Cook stated that creating such a tool would be like the software version of cancer.

Jacobs spent the last two and a half years as a security engineer at Signal-creator, Open Whisper Systems, where he worked on the end-to-end encryption for the iOS app. What Jacobs’ new role at Apple will entail is under wraps, but he could be part of the team that implements a new backup strategy for iCloud authentication that would make it impossible even for Apple to decrypt.

Apple to build 'Unhackable' Services

The reason behind the Apple's hiring is quite clear as the company is currently fighting a US court order asking Apple to help the FBI unlock iPhone 5C of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook.

Basically, Apple is deliberately forced to create the special, backdoored version of iOS, so that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) may be able to Brute Force the passcode on Farook's iPhone without losing the data stored in it.

However, Apple CEO Tim Cook has already refused to provide such a backdoor into the iPhone that would degrade the privacy and security of all iPhone users.

If comply with the court order, the company would be flooded by the FBI and the CIA requests to unlock more iPhones of criminals in near future and the recent request made by the United States government to unlock 12 more iPhones would be just a starter.

But, in an effort to eliminate the chance for government and intelligence agencies for demanding backdoors, the company is removing its own ability to do that, for which they are hiring new interns in its core security team.

Apple found Jacobs a good fit for this, as he had spent two and half years with Open Whisper Systems, the company behind Signal, before leaving the company earlier this year.