The iPhone, the most famous "smart" mobile phone, has the aura of being the most difficult to unlock, although this is a feature that is in question according to a recent study.
The issue renewed its relevance in January, when the opening of the iPhones of the rugbiers accused of the crime of Fernando Báez Sosa in the Buenos Aires resort of Villa Gesell was achieved and that was key to adding evidence in that case.
The security measures implemented by manufacturers make it difficult to carry out computer skills. The opening of the cell phones of the rugbiers and the evidence about what happened on January 19 in Villa Gesell recalled that the team of experts who participated in this task could not do it with the tablet of the actress Natacha Jaitt, who appeared dead on February 23, 2019.
From there, speculations arose again about the information that would be in that device whose difficulty in unlocking it would respond more to the pressures of power than to the skills to do so.
However, the fact that in one case it was possible to open a device and in the other not, responds more to technical, manufacturing, software update, security measures, tool availability issues than to speculation or inexperience, at least in this case.
Keys to unlock an iPhone
"It is not uncommon that devices have been unlocked in one case and not in the other. Cell phones and tablets have a primary difficulty that is blocking, either by password or pattern, because they include survival mechanisms. Security measures implemented by manufacturers make it difficult to carry out these skills," Gustavo Presman, an internationally certified specialist in computer forensics, explained to iProfessional.
When a cell phone or any other electronic device is part of a legal case and its opening is ordered to find evidence in order to resolve a case, the first obstacle that the experts encounter is that, when trying to enter, two things can happen: the information contained may be destroyed or, after an unsuccessful unlock attempt, you must wait a certain amount of time before trying again.
When it is possible to enter the device, it is because it was possible to violate one of those security measures implemented by manufacturers, precisely to provide security to its users. Presman described this situation as manufacturers' battle with researchers and/or hackers seeking to unlock those devices.
"This case is modeled on others," Presman explained. "It is necessary to have the specific instruments (to proceed with an unlocking). There are several tools, but there is one, above all, that is used in Latin America called UFED, which is the one used by almost all law enforcement in Argentina. And throughout America in general. Although it is made in Israel, it has 'keys' for the models that are marketed in the region", both cell phones and tablets.
The unlocking of the iPhones of the rugbiers accused of the Báez crime enabled access to key information.UFED, like any other software, is updated. In each of these updates, new tools may appear that were not there before or other types of "keys" that, as a result of the constant research that any software demands, would allow, now, to unlock that device that was not possible at another time.
Something of this could have happened between the case of the rugbiers and that of Jaitt. Although it is the same team of experts, among whom are well-known specialists in the field of cybersecurity, the available tools allowed the opening in the case of Villa Gesell. Not so in Jaitt's.
The unlocking of the cell phones of the rugbiers accused of the Báez crime enabled access to key information, such as videos and chat content, which led to several of the decisions that Justice has made so far.
But there is a substantial difference between the case of Natacha Jaitt and that of the rugbiers that should not be ignored. "Some phones in the case of the rugbiers could be opened, others could not. I know from technical sources that some could not be opened. In this case there were 10 phones with the particularity that they have a WhatsApp group. By opening only one of them, you can access to the content of everything the group shared. This case was different," Presman explained. This was an advantage for the judicial investigation.
With only one phone unlocked, it was possible to know what its members exchanged, the videos that were filmed and shared, the audios, the photos, the messages, many of which were leaked, and continue to be leaked, to the media.
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iPhone users can lock or unlock access to WhatsApp using fingerprint (touch ID) or facial recognition (face ID).
The limitations to unlock an iPhone
That security forces use UFED does not mean, as noted in these cases, that any device can be accessed. Not only because, depending on the moment, the necessary updates may be available, as already described, but also because the Israeli company itself reserves some tools in order to provide its professional services. Selling services is, along with the sale of your licenses, your business, just like most IT companies in the world do.
So, some opening and/or unlocking services may have to be paid separately when the tools that the holders of the software have are not enough to achieve the objective.
Added to this is another issue, Presman warned: the fine print of those contracts makes it clear that the software may not open the device in question, or that attempts to unlock it may result in data loss.
So what remains is to pay for the professional services that the company sells. Is it a guarantee that the cell phone or tablet involved can be accessed in this way? The answer is no.
In addition, other issues of the same relevance appear, such as accessing the content to deepen a judicial investigation and that has to do with what happens when the Justice decides to deliver a device to a company to try to unlock it.
There are closed court cases in which, at the time, it was not possible to unlock the iPhones of the victim or the accused."There has to be custody control: knowing who has it, for how long, and what mandate. There's a black hole there because the manufacturer asks for a payment to unlock it but you don't know what happens during the procedure," added Presman, who also argued that there is a broad legal discussion on these issues.
Although this is not happening in the cases mentioned, it is worth describing this scenario because it could occur in any other situation. And the world of technology presents complexities that must also be considered within the framework of Justice.
For Presman, the investigation related to the Báez Sosa crime "is being carried out seriously. The leaking of information, of videos and others, which should not happen, always strikes me."
He also reiterated that "not all phones can be opened, and even with the same brand, it depends on certain circumstances." And he recalled that there are also a number of closed court cases where, at the time, it was not possible to unlock certain devices that, later, were. "There is a legal background that has to be resolved legally because you cannot enter a loop of starting to review all the cases," he concluded.
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— DhilipSiva -CyberMan Sun Feb 05 11:15:13 +0000 2012
iPhone lock in case of theft
In recent years, Apple has built security measures into the iPhone to make it more secure than earlier versions. In addition to the classic PIN to unlock the screen, today you can use your fingerprint or your face, depending on the model. And it is that Touch ID and Face ID add an extra security.
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The first security measure is that you lock your iPhone, so that when you want to check it you have to enter a code and/or use Touch ID or Face ID.
And in relation to this, try to make the time the screen turns off and lock the iPhone as short as possible. For example, one minute. It may not seem like much, but it is enough time to look at the time or the weather forecast.
To be prepared in case of loss or theft, we should make sure that we have installed, updated and configured the iPhone "Find" application, previously called "Find my iPhone". To be useful to you, you must have iCloud activated with your Apple account and activate the Search function within iCloud.
Later we will see how to use it and how to test it to see if it works correctly. Other security measures offered by iPhone have to do with safeguarding the content you store on it.
iPhones are the most sought after cell phones by thieves due to their high resale value.iCloud makes it easy and automates the process of backing up all the data associated with your iPhone, installed apps, photos and videos, music, messages, contacts, and more. Make sure you have iCloud activated, it's free, and that backups are made frequently. Also try to check all the options so that all the data that you consider important is synchronized.
In addition to these precautionary measures, there are others associated with specific applications. You can, for example, add a little more security to WhatsApp, one of the most used applications and where you surely keep personal conversations.
Every day about 5,000 devices are stolen in Argentina and almost half of the reported cases occur in Buenos Aires. There are recommendations to report a stolen phone, be it iPhone or Android, and thus avoid the use of the device and the line.
What to do if your iPhone is lost or stolen
The iPhone is a highly appreciated model and sought after by thieves, due to its high resale value. Criminals found various ways to resell these devices. There are different methods used by cell phone thieves to bypass the protections of Apple devices.
We assume that you're signed in with your Apple ID, have iCloud turned on for backup, and have the Find My app. If not, go to the next section.
You can find your lost or stolen iPhone from another Apple device that has the Find My app or directly from the iCloud Find My web address.
Once there, click on All devices and select the device you want to display on the map. It is recommended that you associate all of them, you never know if you will need to search for it.
If your lost or stolen iPhone is on and connected, either by Wi-Fi or mobile data, it will appear on the map and indicate when it was last heard from. From here, you have three options to choose from.
The first one implies that you lost your iPhone phone and you want to find it. If you're near him, choose the Play Sound option, which will play even if he's silent.
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In addition to activating Lost Mode on your iPhone, Apple recommends that you notify the police of its theft.In case of theft, it is better to go to the other two options. The main one, Lost Mode. Your iPhone will be locked with a passcode. Optionally, you can display a message with your phone number on the lock screen if you think you've lost your phone. In case of theft, this option is discarded.
In addition to activating Lost Mode on your iPhone, Apple recommends that you notify the police of its theft. For this, you may need to indicate the serial number. It is something that you should do beforehand as a precautionary measure.
Apple also recommends notifying your mobile operator so that they deactivate your account and calls cannot be made, although this would prevent it from being located.
As a last resort, if you give up your iPhone permanently, you can go to the Erase iPhone option. Your iPhone will be gone, but at least your personal data and files will be removed from the phone. Hence the utility of using iCloud, where a copy of those data and files will remain.
If your iPhone was stolen and you didn't have the Find My app and its associated feature turned on in iCloud, there's little you can do to locate it.
In this case, the actions to be carried out are the same as when you lose some keys, your identity document or a debit or credit card. First, change your Apple ID password. This will prevent them from accessing your iCloud data.
Also try to change the passwords of your other services activated on the stolen iPhone, such as Facebook, Twitter, emails... And report the loss to the police and your telephone provider. In the first case, they will be able to do little, although less is nothing. In the second case they will deactivate your account and they will not be able to make calls or use your mobile data plan.
Hacking an iPhone is easier than an Android
A document, published by the National Institute of Standards and (NIST) of the United States, reveals that the government of the North American country had more success hacking iPhone, considered for years as the mobile with the highest security standard, than Android.
Tests carried out with tools from the company Cellebrite, a manufacturer of data extraction, transfer and analysis devices, which also investigates "zero days" (vulnerabilities that have not yet been made public) for use by governments, have revealed which systems They are more difficult to break.
The report specifies that the devices, which correspond to those used in the tests of the US authorities, do not represent the full potential of the tools that use reverse engineering to extract large amounts of information. In addition, it adds that the more recent the software version of the terminal, the more complicated it is to decrypt its content.
The results of the test with the company's UFED InField Kiosk 7.5 (a favorite forensic extraction device of the police departments and the FBI) reveals the list of which terminals are totally or partially vulnerable to their methods: Iphone 4, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 7 Plus, iPad Mini v9.1, iPad Mini v11.3, Samsung Galaxy s3, Samsung Galaxy S5, LG G4, LG G5, Motorola Droid Turbo 2, Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, Samsung J3 and Google Pixel XL.
In addition to these tools, there are others. The American computer security firm Malwarebytes warned of the existence of a tool called GrayKey, with which it was possible to break the lock code protection of Apple iPhones.
The company's tool is capable of taking an iPhone X and accurately extracting messages, partial information from applications such as Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Pinterest or Twitter, as well as GPS data and call logs.
In more recent models, the result is similar, except with emails, which during the test could be partially decrypted, although, it is also true that the police can gain access to cloud email services, such as Gmail, with a court order.
The investigation reveals that, during tests, Huawei's P20 Pro was unbreakable, while the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Google Pixel 2 allowed very little data to be extracted.
On these devices, Cellebite's tool was unable to extract information from GPS, social media, or browsing history. In the case of the Huawei P20 Pro, not a single data could be extracted, pointing to the Chinese mobile as the most difficult device to hack of those tested.
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