Police departments may soon have a new way to pull data from locked iPhones, according to a training video that reportedly shows how officers can get around an Apple security feature. Magnet Forensics, the company behind the GrayKey phone-unlocking tool sold mainly to law enforcement, has developed a workaround for the inactivity reboot on iPhones, according to the video. The feature is being added to a new GrayKey Preserve tool and a new Evidence Preservation Mode for GrayKey.
In the video, a Magnet employee describes the capability as a major advance for iOS forensics and something the company wished it had years ago, according to the report. Neither the video nor Magnet explains exactly how the tools work.
404 Media suggested that Magnet found a way to keep a phone in a state known as After First Unlock. A device in that state exposes more information than one in the Before First Unlock state, where unlocking is harder for anyone other than the owner and more of the data on the phone remains encrypted. A Magnet representative says in the video that the AFU state is not lost even if the device reboots for reasons such as memory maintenance or power loss.
Magnet workers also claimed the new products can block automatic iPhone features that delete certain data after a set number of days. That data includes cached locations as well as recently deleted iMessages and photos. The inactivity reboot feature is designed to return a phone to a more locked-down state when it has not been used.
The development arrives as local law enforcement teams and multiple federal agencies face accusations of skirting the lines of citizens' digital privacy. GrayKey is sold primarily to police as a means of unlocking smartphones. The training video reportedly demonstrates how officers can evade an Apple security feature.
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