‹ BackHN Continuity

Thread

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

287 points · 226 comments · speckx

  1. delichon · · focus · HN ↗
    I keep all of my most sensitive personal documents on my phone, as an emergency backup, but in an encrypted (Cryptomator) volume that requires a separate password. Given the routine news of such exploits this seems like due diligence.

    As I understand it this encryption is a significant additional barrier to technical or legal access to those files. If someone knows otherwise, please let me know. Being wrong could cost me my home and life savings.

    1. pieter_mj · · focus · HN ↗
      If you travel abroad you must unlock. No 4th amendment for you.
      1. jstanley · · focus · HN ↗
        This is mostly FUD. I've never been asked to unlock my phone when travelling abroad.
        1. serf · · focus · HN ↗
          I get asked to unlock my dev laptop every single time I go from the US to Montreal. The TSA person sits there and waits for my WM to boot before waving me past.

          It seems more like they're trying to determine that it is in fact a laptop and not something resembling one.

          1. matheusmoreira · · focus · HN ↗
            Now I'm wondering what exactly they're looking for... What else could those devices have been?
            1. 0cf8612b2e1e · · focus · HN ↗
              Maybe the agent gets lucky and you have a folder full of nudes on the desktop.
            2. wildzzz · · focus · HN ↗
              They are looking to see if you've gutted a laptop and filled it with explosives or drugs. Although tbh, a computer that can launch a desktop doesn't need much physical space and the battery just has to last long enough for a cursory glance.
Open on Hacker News to reply ↗

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.