There’s been a lot of confusion about Apple’s recent statements in protecting iOS 8 data, supposedly stifling law enforcement’s ability to do their job. FBI boss James Comey has publicly criticized Apple, and essentially blamed them for the next hundred children who get kidnapped. While Apple’s new security improvements have made it a lot harder to get to certain types of data, it’s important to note that there are still a number of techniques that can be employed against iOS 8, with varying levels of success. Most of these are techniques that law enforcement is already doing. Some are part of commercial forensics tools such as Oxygen and Cellebrite. The FBI is undoubtedly aware of them. I’ll outline some of the most common ones here.
I’ve included some tips for those of us who are concerned about data security. Security researchers, journalists, law abiding activists, diplomats, and many other types of high profile individuals should all be practicing good data security, especially when abroad. Foreign governments are just as capable of performing the same forensics techniques that our own government is capable of, and there is an overwhelming amount of information suggesting that all of these classes of individuals have been targeted by foreign governments.
Continue reading “How to Help Secure Your iPhone From Government Intrusions”