Amidst a very public battle with the FBI over demands that it open a phone belonging to one of the San Bernadino attackers, shooter Syed Farook, a report has said that Apple engineers have begun developing new security measures that would make it impossible for the government to break into a locked iPhone using methods similar to those now at the center of a court fight in California.

The report in the New York Times said that engineers were already attempting to update the security of its phones and that it they are successful the company would create a significant technical challenge for law enforcement agencies, even if the Obama administration wins its fight over access to data stored on an iPhone.

The FBI has asked Apple to help it brute force the passcode on Farook's iPhone by creating a version of iOS that would both disable passcode security features and allow passcodes to be entered electronically. The company so far has pushed back, arguing that such a move would set a dangerous precedent and threaten customer security.

"We simply want the chance, with a search warrant, to try to guess the terrorist's passcode without the phone essentially self-destructing and without it taking a decade to guess correctly," wrote FBI Director James Comey.

"That's it. We don't want to break anyone's encryption or set a master key loose on the land."

Apple has announced its intentions to challenge the order that would force it to help the FBI, calling the software the FBI wants "too dangerous to create." The company has also said that such software could be used to "unlock any iPhone" available today, including its most recent devices. If Apple loses the fight against the FBI and is forced to create the software in question, stronger security would ensure it could not go on to be used again.