Swiss Developer of Encrypted Messaging App Timely Hire by Apple

Swiss software engineer Frederic Jacobs announced that he accepted an offer to be working with the CoreOS security team at Apple.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Swiss software engineer Frederic Jacobs, who created the encrypted messaging application known as Signal, confirmed on Twitter he has been hired by the US technology giant Apple.

"I'm delighted to announce that I accepted an offer to be working with the CoreOS security team at Apple this summer," Jacobs tweeted on Friday.

I'm delighted to announce that I accepted an offer to be working with the CoreOS security team at Apple this summer.

— Frederic Jacobs (@FredericJacobs) February 25, 2016

​Although Jacob’s future role at Apple was unclear, the timing of the announcement set of furious speculation on social media that the move was somehow connected to an ongoing feud between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the maker of the popular iPhone.

Apple is refusing to comply with a court order obtained by the FBI to unlock the phone used by San Bernardino terrorist suspect Syed Rizwan, claiming that the creation of software sought by the FBI could open all its telephones to government spying.

Apple increases security with each new operating system for its products, leading the website TC to speculate that Jacobs could help Apple create a system so secure it would be impossible to open a so-called "backdoor" to access information by writing new software.

Ironically, Jacobs’ Signal application is a favorite of National Security Whistleblower Edward Snowden, who exposed a massive US government spying program that monitored conversations of world leaders and US embassy cables, according to TC.

One of Apple’s main concerns is that any software created to unlock its iPhones could somehow become public, making all its products vulnerable to US government eavesdropping as well as hackers.