This Israeli company can unlock any Apple phone, including the iPhone X!

Regarding the issue of unlocking mobile phones, there have been many "teasing scenes" between Apple and the FBI.

In 2016, Apple said it would fight a federal court order to help unlock an iPhone used by the December 2015 shooting in San Bernardino.

In response, the usually gentle Cook also said in strong words that this federal court ruling is a "terrible" example of "the U.S. government reaching too far." He claimed that the court required Apple to "create a backdoor on the iPhone" and said that "doing so is too dangerous."

Since Apple is so difficult to crack, the FBI has no choice but to find a hacker who can crack Apple phones. This is our protagonist today - Israeli mobile forensics company Cellebrite.

According to Forbes, Cellebrite, a major security contractor for US law enforcement agencies, has a new hacking tool for unlocking Apple and other Android phones. It is rumored that the FBI paid Cellebrite more than $1 million to unlock the phone in the San Bernardino shooting.

On February 26, security media thehackernews also reported that a document called "Advanced Unlocking and Extraction Services" showed that Cellebrite can break the security of "Apple iOS devices and operating systems (including iPhone, iPad, iPad mini, iPad Pro and iPod touch) and all iOS 5 to iOS 11 systems.

Citing anonymous sources, the publication claims that Cellebrite can also unlock the iPhone 8, and since the security on Apple's latest iPhone devices is largely the same, the company could also break the security of the iPhone X.

In addition to Apple devices, Cellebrite can also break into Android smartphones from Samsung (Galaxy and Note series), Alcatel, Google Nexus, HTC, Huawei, LG, Motorola, ZTE and many other companies.

The promotional materials include the following:

Cellebrite's advanced unlocking service is the industry's only solution that can overcome a wide range of complex locks on market-leading devices.

Whether it's Apple iOS or Google Android, we can remove its PIN, pattern, password screen lock or passcode.

According to Leifeng.com, Cellebrite was founded in 1999 and provides mobile phone digital forensics tools and software to its customers, including the US government. One of its main products is the Universal Forensic Extraction Device (UFED), which claims to help investigators extract all data and passwords from a mobile phone.

While Cellebrite's iPhone hacking tool has the potential to affect hundreds of millions of Apple users, Apple also regularly rolls out software updates and patches.

As for the specific cracking methods, there are currently no clear reports mentioning the technical methods used by law enforcement agencies and the company to unlock iPhones and other devices.

That said, it’s unclear how Cellebrite managed to break through the security of iOS 11. According to people familiar with the matter, the company developed some new techniques for breaking the system, but given Apple’s quick response in fixing security vulnerabilities, this may be related to a vulnerability that has never been made public.

In response to the current reports, Apple said it is urging users to update to the latest version of iOS (11.2.6) in a timely manner to avoid potential security risks.

Source: thehackernews