Government agency finds way to unlock iPhones

Posted on Tuesday March 13, 2018

Cellebrite, an Israel-based vendor that works with the U.S. government, has revealed that they've found a way to unlock practically every iPhone available on the market. It appears to be a significant milestone for law enforcement and forensic specialists, yet it's also a potential privacy issue for Apple customers.

iPhone vulnerabilities leaked, is it true?

A couple years ago, Apple had a showdown with the FBI regarding data privacy, and this prompted them to develop exceptionally secure mobile devices. But Cellebrite has crashed the party, developing several methods to access iPhone operating systems, including the most recent version.

The engineers are now promoting their methods to private forensics and law enforcement professionals around the world who would benefit from this new service. In fact, in November 2017, the Department of Homeland Security successfully raided data from the iPhone X, most likely through the use of Cellebrite technology.

Secure your business at all costs

To protect you from this potential security issue, here are a couple suggestions from tech experts:

1. Patching mobile devices is a crucial step for both businesses and consumers. For devices that cannot be patched, you must retire it to prevent risks.
2. Adopting a disaster recovery plan is vital. This way, you can limit how much damage a breached gadget can cause.

Only time will tell whether Apple's reputation and the iPhone's security really has been weakened. Still, it doesn't mean that you should hold off on protecting your business. Use this news to give your technology an overhaul, improve your business processes, and update your employees' security training.

Even with all the ingenious ways to hack into systems nowadays, you felt you could count on Apple to be one step ahead of everyone -- but that might not be the case anymore. Ensure that your privacy is secure and your files are still safe by strengthening your usual security practices. But if that's too technical for you, just give us a call and we'll take care of it!