Police in the US have been hacking into dormant iPhones which are part of legal investigations using a hacking tool called GrayKey. It uses the iPhone’s lightning port to bypass Apple’s disk encryption. Apparently, Apple will be pushing out an update to combat the use of the USB port to hack into iPhones.
The new security feature, called “USB Restricted Mode” will turn off all communications via the USB port if the iPhone has not been unlocked in an hour. Once an hour passes, the PO will be usable only for charging the phone. Although this would set back the police’s ability to salvage data from iPhones, it will also restrict hacking by unauthorized personnel which is apparently Apple’s primary concern.
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An Apple representative stated, “We are constantly strengthening the security protections in every Apple product to help customers defend against hackers, identity thieves, and intrusions into their personal data. We have the greatest respect for law enforcement, and we don’t design our security improvements to frustrate their efforts to do their jobs.”
The USB Restricted Mode has been a part of iOS 12 and iOs 11.4.1 beta versions but whether it will hit the final update is still under speculation.