The FBI versus Apple court case brings up the question of government-proof phones. How secure can these devices be?

The FBI wants Apple to create special software that would allow them to bypass certain security measures, such as being locked out after a certain number of attempts. Apple has refused, saying the software could be exploited to hack into millions of phones. The FBI says they would take precautions to prevent that, but security experts are extremely doubtful.

If the FBI makes Apple create the software, it will take less than a day to guess the password, with computers being able to guess 12.5 times a second.

If the passcode had lowercase letters in the mix, it is estimated it would take up to five years to guess. Adding capital letters extends that further. Even longer would be an 11-character code with numbers and letters, which would take up to 253 years to guess.

Apple says there are even more ways to government-proof an iPhone. At the moment, the phone boots up the operating system before requesting a passcode. Requiring a second passcode before that startup would halt all programs from operating, including the software the FBI is requesting. They could also require a passcode to alter the “security enclave,” the system that manages passcode operations. This would stop the FBI’s programs from altering the system.