Apple has rehired a top encryption expert to bring stronger security to a range of its products, Reuters reports. Jon Callas, who worked at Apple in the 1990s and again from 2009 to 2011 to design the Mac’s encryption system, has rejoined the company to address security concerns in the wake of Apple’s public spat with the FBI.
Both Apple and Callas declined to discuss his role at the company, but he is the brains behind several well-respected secure communications companies, including PGP Corp, Silent Circle and Blackphone. Callas has publicly stated he is opposed to companies being compelled to break into their own encryption by law enforcement, but has floated the idea that the government should be allowed to take advantage of undisclosed software vulnerabilities to hack into systems, provided they disclose the vulnerabilities afterward so they can be patched.
The FBI hasn’t bought into that type of arrangement, withholding its method of breaking into iPhones from Apple thus far.
An opening for another job spotted by Business Insider shows Apple is considering privacy on another front, looking for a lawyer specializing in health privacy regulations. The “privacy counsel” hire will focus on Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act regulations, working with the company’s engineering teams and advising on privacy issues of acquisitions.
