iPhone Encryption Broken?

We all go about using our mobile devices thinking that our data is secure all the time. Unfortunately, the digital world is a very dangerous place if you are not too careful. iOS devices are in general considered to be pretty safe for data storage. They all have 256-bit encryption. The last two generation iPhones have built-in chips as another security layer to protect users’ data.

As Elcomsoft has proven, iOS security layers are not unbreakable. Their experts have found a way to get around iPhone’s encryption system and access sensitive data that may be stored on these phones.

Decryption is not possible without having access to the actual device because [Elcomsoft needs] to obtain the encryption keys that are stored in (or computed by) the device and are not dumped or stored during typical physical acquisition.

That’s the good news. As long as you don’t lose your iPhone, you could be safe against this type of attack. Still, accidents happen from time to time. We all would have an easier time relying on our phones if they are made to be even better in protecting our data. If you lose your iPhone, you are probably better off wiping your data on it anyway.

This may not be a great development but iOS users still have some options. You still want to encrypt your iPhone backups and keep a close eye on your device. iOS devices are not 100% impenetrable. Then again no device is.