Apple hired the guy who helped it fight the FBI's order to hack the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone

Jonathan Zdziarski

Jonathan Zdziarski.

Apple has hired Jonathan Zdziarski, a veteran security researcher who helped the company fight the FBI's request to hack an iPhone used by a shooter from the 2015 San Bernardino shooting.

Zdziarski announced on Tuesday that he had accepted a position within Apple's security engineering and architecture team.

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"This decision marks the conclusion of what I feel has been a matter of conscience for me over time," he wrote on his personal blog. "Privacy is sacred; our digital lives can reveal so much about us - our interests, our deepest thoughts, and even who we love. I am thrilled to be working with such an exceptional group of people who share a passion to protect that."

A vocal expert in the security research community, Zdziarski first made headlines in 2014 for alleging that Apple had created a "backdoor" into its software that could be used to get private information.

When the FBI tried to force Apple to break the encryption on an iPhone owned by a shooter involved in the San Bernardino attack, Zdziarski helped file an amicus brief in support of Apple.

Now that Zdziarski has joined secretive Apple as an employee, he'll likely maintain a much lower public profile. His Twitter account has already been shut down.