Law Enforcement Authorities Purchase Tech to Unlock iPhones

Law Enforcement Authorities Purchase Tech to Unlock iPhones

iphones

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iPhones encrypt user data by default. Those in physical possession normally cannot access the phone’s data, such as contact list, saved messages, or photos, without first unlocking the phone with a passcode or fingerprint. Police forces and federal agencies in the US have bought relatively cheap tools to unlock up-to-date iPhones and bypass their encryption. The news highlights the going dark debate, in which law enforcement officials say they cannot access evidence against criminals. But easy access to iPhone hacking tools also hamstrings the FBI’s argument for introducing backdoors into consumer devices so authorities can more readily access their contents.

“It demonstrates that even state and local police do have access to this data in many situations,” Matthew Green, an assistant professor and cryptographer at the Johns Hopkins Information Security Institute, told Motherboard. “This seems to contradict what the FBI is saying about their inability to access these phones.”

According to an investigation by motherboard.vice.com, regional police forces are procuring a technology called ‘GrayKey’ which can break into iPhones, including the iPhone X running the latest operating system iOS 11. Other forces have seemingly not bought GrayKey, but have received quotations from the company selling the technology.

Emails show the Secret Service is planning to buy at least half a dozen GrayKey boxes to unlock iPhones. The State Department has already bought the technology, and the Drug Enforcement Administration is interested in doing so. The FBI is also looking to buy GrayKey, according to online procurement records.

The GrayKey is a small, 4×4 inches box with two lightning cables for connecting iPhones, according to photographs published by cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes.