Cellebrite Says It Can Unlock Any iPhone for Cops
Not so long ago, companies that ****ed personal devices on behalf of governments did so in secret, closely guarding even the descriptions of their capabilities. Now, it seems, they proudly tweet about their updated abilities to hack into new iPhones, like a videogame firm offering an expansion pack.
On Friday afternoon, the Israeli forensics firm and law enforcement contractor Cellebrite publicly announced a new version of its product known as a Universal Forensic Extraction Device or UFED, one that it's calling UFED Premium. In marketing that update, it says that the tool can now unlock any iOS device cops can lay their hands on, including those running iOS 12.3, released just a month ago. Cellebrite claims UFED Premium can extract files from many recent Android phones as well, including the Samsung Galaxy S9. No other law enforcement contractor has made such broad claims about a single product, at least not publicly. The move signals not only another step in the cat and mouse game between smartphone makers and the government-sponsored firms that seek to defeat their security, but also a more unabashedly public phase of that security face-off.
Cellebrite is proud to introduce #UFED Premium! An exclusive solution for law enforcement to unlock and extract data from all iOS and high-end Android devices," the company wrote on its Twitter feed for the UFED product. On a linked web page, it describes the new UFED tool's ability to pull detailed forensic data off of any iOS device dating back to iOS 7, and Android devices not just from Samsung but Huawei, LG, and Xiaomi. Cellebrite calls the UFED Premium "the only on-premise solution for law enforcement agencies to unlock and extract crucial mobile phone evidence from all iOS and high-end Android devices."
The announcement follows a move from Apple last fall to add new security measures that crippled another iPhone-unlocking tool, the GrayKey devices, sold by the Atlanta-based company Grayshift, which have become popular among US law enforcement.
One iOS security expert who spoke to WIRED says that Grayshift has since developed tools to unlock at least some versions of iOS 12. But it's only recently started working on a tool that can unlock Android devices too, according to a report from Forbes earlier this week, while Cellebrite says its new tool can unlock encrypted phones running either Apple or Google's operating systems.
"This will allow investigators access to newer and updated devices that they didn’t have access to before," says Sarah Edwards, a forensics researcher for the security training group the SANS Institute. Neither Cellebrite nor Grayshift responded to WIRED's request for comment for more information about their latest phone-****ing tools.
https://www.ttspy.com/the-ultimate-couples-location-tracker-for-android-and-iphone-with-ttspy.html