FireEye President: Apple's Encryption Issue Is Very Tough to Solve

During an interview on the FOX Business Network’s Countdown to the Closing Bell, FireEye President Kevin Mandia said the ongoing battle between Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and the FBI isn’t going to be easy to solve.

“I think it’s going to be hard for Apple to promise any kind of backdoor because the day they create it… within 24-48 hours there’s going to be freely available encryption that we can’t break available to those users that want to use it,” Mandia told FBN’s Liz Claman.

“So, I think the encryption issue is a real tough one to solve because there’re other third-parties that can provide those solutions if Apple chooses not to. It’s going to be a tough one to be a solution. I don’t see a backdoor into this as a realistic solution, simply because of that workaround.”

He added: “This is a very complex issue… both sides are well-intentioned; One side looking to represent the privacy of citizens and individuals in an international community, and another side that wants to protect folks. I think we have come to the table and both sides would agree—we don’t want bad things to happen to good people.”

The president of FireEye, an American network security company, thinks it would be best for Apple and the FBI to compromise before the issue must go to court.

“You always want to work things out ahead of time to the benefit of both parties,” Mandia said. “Here we have two reasonable parties. They actually want the same objective—protect citizens from harm. So hopefully those two parties working together can solve this and come up with a reasonable way to work together before we let the courts decide how they must work together.”