Apple recruits secure messaging app developer for summer internship

Apple is continuing to work on improving the security of its software, despite the intense public scrutiny caused through its encryption fight with the FBI, by hiring a developer known for his privacy-related work. Frederic Jacobs, one of the people behind the secure messaging app Signal, will be joining Apple for the summer as part of the company’s CoreOS Security team, the group responsible for the main encryption-related elements of Apple’s operating systems.Confirmed on Twitter by Jacobs himself, the position appears to be only temporary, with it being described as an internship, reportsTechCrunch. Jacobs has confirmed he will be traveling from Switzerland to California for the work, though he has not exactly advised what his main roles will be during his time at Apple.

While it is highly likely Jacobs will be involved in making Apple’s operating systems more secure, there is also the outside chance he is being brought onboard for another purpose. The FBI has repeatedly asked Apple to create some form of tool to allow access to encrypted data stored on an iPhone, a move the company has resisted so far, but in the unlikely event it is compelled to produce the tool, Jacobs would be one likely candidate to work on such a project.

As part of Open Whisper Systems, Jacobs worked on Signal, a highly secure messaging app used by whistleblower Edward Snowden. The app has been praised for revealing “virtually nothing” when messages sent from it were analyzed, with anEFF scorecard also providing it with top marks when compared against other messaging apps for security. Jacobs spent two and a half years at the company, before leaving this year.