Following its butting heads with US law enforcement against the unlocking of iPhone encryption, Reuters reports Apple is boosting its security capabilities with the hiring of cryptography expert Jon Callas.

Callas worked at Apple during 1995-1997, and again on 2009-2011 period. During the second period he designed the full-disk encryption Apple uses in iPhones, iPads and Macs. In his non-Apple time Callas worked at PGP (where he developed the OpenPGP standard) and co-founded Silent Circle, the company behind the security-minded Blackphone.

Reuters does not reveal the position Callas has at Apple, but the whys behind his hiring should be more than obvious-- the company has a firm stance in favour of strong encryption, taking the fight against the FBI's wanting to bypass iOS security to the courts.

The FBI and other law enforcement agencies insist tech companies need to help relevant authorities in the hunt for criminals, but Apple and its ilk (including Google and Facebook) retort the circumvention of own encryption would only undermine the security of products, making them vulnerable to hackers.

Go Apple Rehires Prominent Security Pro as Encryption Fight Boils (Reuters)