He likened it to locking your car and your house at night.

Tech industry leaders including Alphabet Inc's Google, Facebook Inc, Microsoft Corp, AT&T and more than two dozen other Internet and technology companies filed legal briefs on Thursday asking a judge to support Apple Inc in its encryption battle with the U.S. government.

The battle lines are clear: the FBI is using the courts to try to force Apple to write malware that will provide a backdoor into the iPhone the Feds recovered at the recent San Bernardino terrorist shootings – but Apple is fighting the order tooth and nail, as such malware would weaken privacy protections for all Apple customers.