Apple refuses to co-operate with phone hacking

Apple chief executive Tim Cook says his company will fight a federal magistrate’s order to hack its users in connection with the investigation of the San Bernardino shootings.

Mr Cook asserted such a move would undermine encryption by creating a back door that could potentially be used on other future devices.

His response, posted on the company’s website, came after an order from US magistrate judge Sheri Pym that Apple help the Obama administration break into an encrypted iPhone belonging to one of the shooters in the December attack.