Even without Apple’s back door, US investigators can now read out the latest iPhone models. Nevertheless, they complain about the high effort required to unlock the devices.
With the help of forensic software, the US federal FBI has also cracked the latest generation of Apple devices including the latest iPhone 11 model. This emerges from court documents that relate to a procedure for inadmissible campaign funding. The letter of January 21, 2020 states that the accused Lev Parnas refused to “provide the password for his devices, which is of course his right, but it took the FBI almost two months to unlock the iPhone 11” , It had already been reported last week that the text messages of the device had been read out with the help of the forensic software Cellebrite.
US investigators and Apple have been arguing for years about whether the iPhone manufacturer needs to provide access to confiscated devices. Last week, US President Donald Trump complained via Twitter that Apple continued to refuse to unlock such devices. Apple should crack the smartphones of “killers, drug dealers and other violent criminals”. It was about a terrorist attack on a Florida naval base.
Many more devices blocked
In the case of Parnas, the FBI admits that there are “many more password-protected devices” that the government cannot yet access. Efforts to do this continued. At the beginning of December 2019, however, some of the devices could have been unlocked.
According to U.S. media reports, U.S. agencies spend millions of dollars using forensic software such as Cellebrite. However, it is unclear which programs are actually able to crack certain devices. It was speculated in spring 2016 whether Cellebrite had unlocked a terrorist’s iPhone on behalf of the FBI. However, this was what professional hackers did for the FBI and received a substantial sum. The case had caused a stir because Apple had even opposed an FBI-ordered court order that the company had to help unlock the iPhone.
On another important point, however, Apple has assisted the investigators. At the request of the FBI, the company is said to have refrained from offering iPhone users encrypted backups in the company’s own iCloud.