14 DAY TRIAL // ElcomSoft, a company that develops computer forensics tools, has released an updated version of its Elcomsoft iPhone Password Breaker, a GPU-accelerated password-recovery tool to unlock encrypted iPhone and iPod touch backups. The new version adds iOS 4 support. Apple is expected to release the iOS 4 software update in a matter of hours.
In an official report issued today, the company outlines why support for iOS 4 is so important, citing Apple’s feat of selling over a hundred million iOS devices to date. “With over a hundred new features, the iOS 4 Software Update is considered the most significant update for Apple mobile devices ever,” it notes. However, the main reason for supporting iOS 4 is that the new software employs a new format for saving backups, ElcomSoft says.
“Apple has changed the algorithm protecting encrypted backups for its iOS devices, making the backup process faster while strengthening the protection even further compared to prior releases,” ElcomSoft explains. “The company has significantly improved protection of encrypted backups, making password recovery attacks even harder. In addition, the encryption is now moved into the kernel of the new iOS as opposed to user-mode operation found in the older systems,” it adds.
“The backups contain essential information about the use of the device, including phone books, call logs, SMS archives, calendars, camera snapshots, voice mail and email account settings, applications, Web browsing history and cache. In addition, iPhone 3G and 3GS backups store information about the latest known GPS position of the device,” ElcomSoft reveals. The iPhone Password Breaker, currently supported on Windows machines only, grants forensic access to this very information stored on Apple devices. The new iOS 4 is supported by the tool thanks to a recent software update. Moreover, Elcomsoft iPhone Password Breaker supports original and “jailbroken” Apple devices working under any iPhone OS, while iTunes is not required to recover data. Download ElcomSoft iPhone Password Breaker for Windows (Update / Trial / Buy)