Hackers only need to get your passcode to access the data

Dec 4, 2017 17:07 GMT  ·  By

ElcomSoft, privately owned Russian software company working on computer security programs designed mainly for password and system recovery operations, says iOS 11 encrypted backups are easier to crack than those of previous iOS versions.

In a lengthy article, the company explains who Apple was forced by various circumstances to make the iOS encrypted backups easier to crack by third parties in case of emergencies or anything else you can think off. Long story short, the latest iOS 11 software update makes encrypted backups less secure than ever before.

ElcomSoft is usually used by law enforcement agencies to decrypt various devices, including iPhone ones, and they recently explained in layman's terms how Apple's iOS 11 operating system handles passwords for encrypted backups when creating backups of your iPhone or iPad devices on a computer where iTunes is installed.

How iOS encrypted backups worked and how they work now

In a previous iOS version, when an encrypted backup was created with a password, that password become the property of the respective iPhone or iPad device, not the computer where iTunes was installed. Previous backups were protected with the initially set password even you connected your device to a different computer and made another backup.

According to ElcomSoft, some with physical access to your iPhone or iPad device running iOS 11 can decrypt your data if they reset the password on the device and then create a new encrypted backup with a new password. As such, the new password can be used to access the data stored in a local encrypted backup with a specific app like ElcomSoft Phone Breaker.

Undoubtedly, the attacker would first need to know your passcode to access your iOS device before creating a new backup, but it's still easier than before to decrypt encrypted iOS backups, which makes Apple's iOS operating system less secure. These days, you are the extra layer of protection standing between a hacker and your device, so make sure it's always in a safe place near you.

Otherwise, local encrypted backups containing the entire keychain with all your Apple account password, call logs, location data, browsing history, photos, and all the passwords you ever stored in the iCloud are easily accessible if someone gets the passcode of your device running iOS 11. Check out ElcomSoft's in-depth article for more details on the matter.

iOS 11 keychain exposed
iOS 11 keychain exposed

iOS 11 (2 Images)

iOS 11 keychain exposed
Exploring the iOS 11 keychain
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