Israel based iPhone hacking firm Cellebrite is now making the claim that they can extract data from iPhone 6 and older models. This is interesting as it was thought that anything from the iPhone 5s or newer was difficult to hack. Here’s what CyberScoop had to say about this:
Cellebrite, the Israel-based firm that makes millions selling smartphone cracking tools to governments around the world, announced Wednesday that it can unlock and extract the full file system from locked iPhones including the 6 and 6+ with their Advanced Investigative Service (CAIS) product in which their customers send phones they urgently need unlocked.
Every version before the 6+ can also be unlocked by Cellebrite whose forensic researchers say they have successfully bypassed Apple’s security and encryption.
And:
Cellebrite’s ability to break into the iPhone 6 and 6+ comes in their latest line of product releases. The newest Cellebrite product, UFED 6.0, boasts dozens of new and improved features including the ability to extract data from 51 Samsung Android devices including the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, the latest flagship models for Android’s most popular brand, as well as the new high-end Google Pixel Android devices.
“In the majority of devices, Cellebrite’s proprietary boot loader can bypass all security mechanisms, even if the device is locked, without jailbreaking, rooting or flashing the device,” according to the company. Newer devices, particularly iOS devices, present evolving challenges.
It’s interesting that they don’t have the iPhone 6s/6s Plus, 7 or 7 Plus on their list. I am guessing that those phones are different enough that these guys haven’t figured out how to break into them yet. Regardless, this is sure to put them into the crosshairs of Apple who I am sure is going to do their best to figure out exactly how Cellebrite is doing this and then develop countermeasures to stop them from being able to extract data from their shiny iDevices.
Let the arms race begin.