When it comes to iOS data acquisition, Elcomsoft iOS Forensic Toolkit is the top choice for forensic experts. Its cutting-edge features and unmatched capabilities have made it the go-to software for investigating iOS devices. In a recent update, we expanded the capabilities of the low-level extraction agent to support full file system extraction and keychain decryption on Apple’s newest devices running iOS 16.5. This achievement represents a breakthrough, as the delay between Apple’s iOS updates and our forensic software release has significantly reduced.

When it comes to iOS data acquisition, Elcomsoft iOS Forensic Toolkit stands head and shoulders above the competition. With its cutting-edge features and unmatched capabilities, the Toolkit has become the go-to software for forensic investigations on iOS devices. The recent update expanded the capabilities of the tool’s low-level extraction agent, adding keychain decryption support on Apple’s newest devices running iOS 16.0 through 16.4.

In the previous articles we explained how to connect the first-generation HomePod to a computer, apply the exploit, extract a copy of the file system and decrypt the keychain. Since the HomePod cannot be protected with a passcode and does not allow installing apps, we were wondering what kinds of data the speaker may have and what kinds of passwords its keychain may store.

The updated iOS Forensic Toolkit 8.11 brings keychain decryption support to devices running iOS/iPadOS versions up to and including the 15.5 by using the extraction agent. The tool supports recent models that can run iOS 15 , which includes devices based on the Apple A12 through A15 Bionic, as well as Apple Silicon based devices built on the M1 SoC.

Bootloader-based acquisition is the only 100% forensically sound data extraction method for Apple devices. It is the only way to acquire the full set of data from those devices that run iOS 16, albeit with a huge caveat that makes the whole thing more of a brain exercise than a practical forensic tool. Let’s review the iOS 16 compatibility in iOS Forensic Toolkit and go through the whole process step by step.

Mobile forensics is not limited to phones and tablets. Many types of other gadgets, including IoT devices, contain tons of valuable data. Such devices include smart watches, media players, routers, smart home devices, and so on. In this article, we will cover the extraction of an Apple TV 4K, one of the most popular digital media players.

Keychain is an essential part of iOS and macOS that securely stores the most critical data: passwords of all kinds, encryption keys, certificates, credit card numbers, and more. Extracting and decrypting the keychain, when possible, is a must in mobile forensics. We seriously improved this part in the latest build of iOS Forensic Toolkit.

We often write about full file system acquisition, yet we rarely explain what it is, when you can do it, and which methods you can use. We decided to clarify low-level extraction of Apple mobile devices (iPhones and iPads, and some other IoT devices such as Apple TVs and Apple Watches).

iOS Forensic Toolkit 7.10 brings low-level file system extraction support for a bunch of iOS versions. This includes the entire range of iPhone models based on the A11, A12, and A13 Bionic platforms running iOS 14.4 through 14.8.

Last year, we have developed an innovative way to extract iPhone data without a jailbreak. The method’s numerous advantages were outweighed with a major drawback: an Apple ID enrolled in the paid Apple’s Developer program was required to sign the extraction binary. This is no longer an issue on Mac computers with the improved sideloading technique.