On January 23, 2023, Apple have released a bunch of system updates that target the different device architectures. iOS 16.3 is available for many recent devices, while older models were updated to iOS 12.5.7, iOS 15.7.3 and iPadOS 15.7.3 respectively. While Elcomsoft iOS Forensic Toolkit supported these versions of the system from the get go, today we are rolling out an update that irons out minor inconveniences when imaging such devices.

Apple is known for a very long time they support their devices. On January 23, 2023, alongside with iOS 16.3 the company rolled out security patches to older devices, releasing iOS 12.5.7, iOS 15.7.3 and iPadOS 15.7.3. iOS 12 was the last major version of iOS supported on Apple A7, A8, and A8X devices, which includes the iPhone 5s and iPhone 6 and 6 Plus generations along with several iPad models. We tested low-level extraction with these security-patched builds, and made several discoveries.

Just before the turn of the year, we’ve made an important update to Elcomsoft iOS Forensic Toolkit, a low-level iOS file system extraction and keychain decryption tool. The update brings checkm8 support to iOS, iPadOS and tvOS 16.2 devices, and enables agent-based low-level extraction of iOS 15.5. We’ve also fixed what’s been long broken: the ability to sideload the extraction agent from Windows PCs, yet the two updates are delivered in different branches. Sounds confusing? We’re here to solve it for you.

iOS 16 brings many changes to mobile forensics. Users receive additional tools to control the sharing and protection of their personal information, while forensic experts will face tighter security measures. In this review, we’ll talk about the things in iOS 16 that are likely to affect the forensic workflow.

iOS Forensic Toolkit 8.0 is officially released! Delivering forensically sound checkm8 extraction and a new command-line driven user experience, the new release becomes the most sophisticated mobile forensic tool we’ve released to date.

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.

iOS Forensic Toolkit 7.60 brings gapless low-level extraction support for several iOS versions from iOS 15.2 up to and including iOS 15.3.1, adding full file system extraction support for Apple devices based on Apple A11-A15 and M1 chips.

Elcomsoft iOS Forensic Toolkit supports checkm8 extraction from all compatible devices ranging from the iPhone 4s and all the way through the iPhone X (as well as the corresponding iPad, iPod Touch, Apple Watch and Apple TV models). The new update removes an important obstacle to the acquisition of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus devices running recent versions of iOS.

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.