WASHINGTON: Apple said Wednesday it was strengthening encryption on its iPhones to thwart police efforts to unlock handsets without legitimate authorization.
The move by Apple, the latest in an ongoing clash with law enforcement, comes amid reports of growing use of a tool known as GrayKey which can enable police to bypass iPhone security features.
Apple said the new features are not designed to frustrate law enforcement but prevent any bypassing of encryption by good or bad actors.
“At Apple, we put the customer at the center of everything we design,” the company said in a statement.
“We’re constantly strengthening the security protections in every Apple product to help customers defend against hackers, identity thieves and intrusions into their personal data. We have the greatest respect for law enforcement, and we don’t design our security improvements to frustrate their efforts to do their jobs.”
Apple said it was working a fix to mitigate the possibility of accessing data from GrayKey or similar tools.
Apple said that it has a team that responds to law enforcement and national security requests 24 hours a day. But the company has been a target of some in law enforcement for rejecting efforts to allow easy access to iPhones.
Two years ago, Apple went to court to block an FBI effort to force it to weaken iPhone encryption on the device of a mass shooter in San Bernardino, California, but officials dropped the case after finding a tool to unlock the phone.
Apple steps up encryption to thwart police cracking of iPhones
Apple steps up encryption to thwart police cracking of iPhones
Stc Group issues US dollar-denominated sukuk with a total value of $2bn
RIYADH: Stc Group has issued US dollar-denominated sukuk with a total value of $2 billion across two tranches.
The group clarified that the issuance included the offering of $750 million in sukuk with a 5-year maturity at a yield of US Treasury plus 75 basis points, and an issuance of $1.250 billion with a 10-year maturity at a yield of UST plus 90 basis points, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
It noted that the total order book exceeded $8 billion across both tranches, with a coverage rate exceeding 4 times, and participation from over 300 investors in the subscription.
The issuance garnered strong demand from a broad and diverse base of international investors, reflecting solid confidence in the robustness and efficiency of stc Group’s business model and strategy.
This strategy is aimed at strengthening its digital leadership, seizing infrastructure opportunities, enabling massive projects, and contributing to the realization of Vision 2030 objectives, with a focus on achieving sustainable growth based on operational efficiency and maximizing shareholder value.
This issuance enhances stc Group’s access to international capital markets and solidifies investor confidence in the strength of its credit position.
It also supports its strategic role in accelerating the pace of digital transformation in the Kingdom and building a thriving digital economy.
