David Hanak The Israeli company Cellebrite, which deals with forensic and security issues with regard to modern technologies, has once again reminded the world. According to their statement, they once again have a tool that can break the protection of all smartphones on the market, including iPhones.
Cellebrite gained notoriety a few years ago for allegedly unlocking iPhones for the FBI. Since then, its name floats in the public domain, and the company is remembered every once in a while with some big marketing statement. Last year, it was in view of the new restrictive approach to connecting to iPhones using the Lightning connector - a mechanism that the company allegedly managed to break. Now they are remembered again and they say they can do the unheard of.
Cellebrite is proud to introduce #UFED Premium! An exclusive solution for law enforcement to unlock and extract data from all iOS and high-end Android devices. To learn more, click here: https://t.co/WHsaDxzoXz pic.twitter.com/BSixEkyAuL
— Cellebrite (@Cellebrite_UFED) June 14, 2019
The company offers its potential customers the services of their brand new tool called UFED Premium (Universal Forensic Extraction Device). It should be able to break the protection of any iPhone, including a phone with the current version of the iOS 12.3 operating system. In addition, it manages to outwit the protection of devices with the Android operating system installed. According to the statement, the company is able to extract almost all data from the target device thanks to this tool.
Thus, a kind of imaginary race between phone manufacturers and manufacturers of these "hacking devices" continues. Sometimes it's a bit like a game of cat and mouse. At some point, the protection will be breached and this milestone will be announced to the world, only for Apple (et al) to patch the security hole in an upcoming update and the cycle can continue again.
In the US, Cellebrite has a strong competitor in Grayshift, which, by the way, was founded by one of Apple's former security experts. This company also offers its services to security forces, and according to experts in the field, they are not at all bad with their capabilities and possibilities.
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The market for tools to break the protection of electronic devices is quite logically very hungry, whether it is behind security companies or government agencies. Due to the huge level of competition in this environment, development can be expected to continue at an inexorable pace forward. On the one hand, there will be a hunt for the most secure and unbeatable security system possible, on the other, there will be a search for the smallest hole in security that will allow data to be compromised.
For ordinary users, the advantage lies in the fact that hardware and software manufacturers (at least Apple) are constantly pushed forward in terms of security options for their products. On the other hand, both governmental and non-governmental organizations now know that they have someone to turn to if they need a little help in this area.
Source: Wired
