In just a span of a couple of weeks, a pair of companies are already claiming that they have the means to unlock the newest iPhone models from Apple, specifically the iPhone X, as well as the iPhone 8.
About a week ago, Forbes had published a report saying that Cellebrite, a tech vendor based in Israel, had discovered a method for unlocking iPhones that have installed iOS 11, including those that are running version 11.2.6.
According to Forbes’ report, Cellebrite has not made any big public announcement with regards to its iOS unlocking abilities, but the company reportedly has been advertising its techniques to various law enforcement and private forensic service providers around the world. It is worth mentioning that Cellebrite has had ties with the United States government before -- as a matter of fact, its name is closely associated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s successful attempt to hack into the iPhone 5c unit used by a terrorist connected with the San Bernardino attack in December 2015. Moreover, Forbes mentioned in the same report that a certain iPhone X unit was raided for data around four months ago by the US Department of Homeland Security, and there is a high probability that Cellebrite’s techniques were employed in that raid.
Meanwhile this week, another company has been reported to have stumbled upon a method to bypass the security features of Apple’s current flagship devices. While it is true that Grayshift is not as well known as Cellebrite, the US based firm now can claim to having done something so few have managed (at least, for now).
As reported by Naked Security, Grayshift has apparently started distributing materials promoting an unlocking tool called GrayKey. This tool is said to be capable of unlocking iOS 11 powered devices (including the iPhone X and the iPhone 8 models), plus handsets that run on iOS 10. Grayshift is reportedly also working on extending the capabilities of GrayKey to include iOS 9 devices.
Grayshift is reported to be selling the GrayKey tool to law enforcement agencies for an amount of $15,000 (which is good for 300 uses). Another version of GrayKey is said to come with unlimited number of uses, and the company is offering this product for twice the price ($30,000).
Smartphones made by Apple have built quite a reputation in terms of security and reliability over the last decade or so. Meanwhile, the number of companies that claim to offer iOS unlocking capabilities is also starting to grow. Of course, with Apple’s technical wizardry, it will always continue to develop new technologies in the field of mobile security. Similarly, companies like Cellebrite and Grayshift will also try to keep up, for better or worse.
