FBI needs to offer Apple an olive branch

When the FBI announced that it had found a way to crack the San Bernardino, California, gunman's phone -- a path forward that wouldn't require conscripting Apple to produce custom software -- the stage seemed set for a thaw. After weeks of rhetorical escalation, Justice Department lawyers began walking back their language, insisting to Judge Sheri Pym that the agency was "not saying anything nefarious about Apple." Peace seemed possible.

But the Bureau's next move was troubling. According to The Guardian, officials plan to classify the new method. While there could be a number of rationales -- likely the FBI hopes to preserve the vulnerability for future use; maybe it wants to avoid revealing that the approach had already been suggested -- the decision is a strategic misstep in any world. For the sake of both cybersecurity and intelligence, the FBI should share the flaw it says it has found.

Read the full commentary at CNN Opinion.