Thread

Cops Can Bypass iPhone's Automatic Reboot to Get into Locked Phones

287 points · 226 comments · speckx

axus · 1790867763 · focus · HN ↗
Does this mean iPhones are worth more to steal?
1. klinquist · 1790868482 · focus · HN ↗
  No. This requires an expensive license for a government agency to purchase in order to take advantage of this functionality.
  1. polskibus · 1790869706 · focus · HN ↗
    Can you provide a reference to that?
    klinquist · 1790870045 · focus · HN ↗
    Unfortunately not a one I can prove to you online. I have a family member who is a district attorney, so that's my source. He said that that companies like the ones mentioned in the article sell licenses to unlock a single phone to a city or county. The city or county pays if they consider it worth it. The cost can be 5 figures.
    klinquist · 1790870135 · focus · HN ↗
    (so the people that discover these exploits will sell them to the companies for 6 or 7 figures, far more than they would get from an Apple/Android bug bounty)
    petergs · 1790870422 · focus · HN ↗
    The article references Magnet Forensic’s Graykey being used for this. Wikipedia shows its like 15-30k per year[1]. Doubt the relevant exploit is available to the average phone thief.
    [1] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grayshift" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grayshift
    toast0 · 1790872059 · focus · HN ↗
    But still available to the above average phone thief that has a buddy in digital forensics that helps him prep the goods for sale.
    kube-system · 1790870912 · focus · HN ↗
    Government contract data is public
    Here's a renewal of one, presumably basic, license:
    <a href="https://bidbanana.thebidlab.com/contract/4jKIvKMvZdoWo3d6K6qg" rel="nofollow">https://bidbanana.thebidlab.com/contract/4jKIvKMvZdoWo3d6K6q...
    The product is not publicly available, and is sold only B2G: <a href="https://www.magnetforensics.com/products/magnet-graykey/#pardot-form" rel="nofollow">https://www.magnetforensics.com/products/magnet-graykey/#par...
  2. loloquwowndueo · 1790870001 · focus · HN ↗
    Sounds like “this tsa approved lock needs a special key you can totally not just buy on Amazon”
    saagarjha · 1790900216 · focus · HN ↗
    Sure, it’s just that the special key costs a million dollars

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