NEW YORK — For the past two weeks, federal agencies and the executive branch have launched a cacophony of critique of Apple and Google for bolstering the encryption on their users’ smartphones.
Before companies like Microsoft and Apple release new software, the code is reviewed and tested to ensure it works as planned and to find any bugs. Hackers and cybercrooks do the same.
I squatted down in the dirt and took stock of my inadequate tools. Over my left shoulder a massive John Deere tractor loomed. I came here to fix that tractor. So far, things weren’t going as planned. I’m a computer programmer by training, and a repairman by trade.