FBI to Apple: We Can't Look Victims in Eye If We Don't Follow Lead

FBI Director James Comey says requiring Apple to hack into one of the San Bernardino shooters' cellphones isn't about trying to set precedent, but rather about doing justice for the victims of that attack.

In a message posted Sunday night on the Lawfare Blog, Comey said that the FBI can't look the survivors in the eye if they don't follow the lead.

"We simply want the chance, with a search warrant, to try to guess the terrorist's passcode without the phone essentially self-destructing and without it taking a decade to guess correctly. That's it. We don't want to break anyone's encryption or set a master key loose on the land," Comey wrote.

A federal judge ordered Apple to help investigators gain access to the locked phone.

But the tech giant is refusing to comply, arguing that helping the government unlock an encrypted phone would put the privacy of all of its users at risk.

"The government suggests this tool could only be used once, on one phone. But that's simply not true. Once created, the technique could be used over and over again, on any number of devices. In the physical world, it would be the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a letter to customers explaining the company's decision.

Apple has until Feb. 26 to file its opposition to the initial court order.