ANALYSIS: TRUE. Chinese hack of US ISPs shows why Apple is right about backdoors for law enforcement.

It was revealed this weekend that Chinese hackers managed to access systems run by three of the largest internet service providers (ISPs) in the US.

What’s notable about the attack is that it compromised security backdoors deliberately created to allow for wiretaps by US law enforcement.

Apple famously refused the FBI’s request to create a backdoor into iPhones to help access devices used by shooters in San Bernardino and Pensacola. The FBI was subsequently successful in accessing all the iPhones concerned without the assistance it sought.

Our arguments against such backdoors predate both cases, when Apple spoke out on the issue in the wake of terrorist attacks in Paris more than a decade ago.

Even if Washington could be trusted not to exploit backdoors (they can’t be), they can’t be trusted to keep those backdoors from being exploited by hackers.