Perfect Acquisition Part 5: Perfect APFS Acquisition
July 21st, 2025 by Elcomsoft R&D
Welcome to Part 5 of the Perfect Acquisition series! In case you missed the previous parts, please check them out for background information. This section provides a comprehensive guide to performing the Perfect APFS Acquisition procedure.
Breaking Passwords with NVIDIA RTX 3080 and 3090
December 17th, 2020 by Oleg Afonin
Today we have an important date. Advanced Office Password Recovery turned 16. What started as an instant recovery tool for legacy versions of Microsoft Word had now become a GPU-accelerated toolkit for breaking the many Microsoft formats. Today we’re releasing a major update, giving Advanced Office Password Recovery and Distributed Password Recovery tools the ability to crunch passwords faster with the newest and latest NVIDIA 3000-series graphic boards. Powered by Ampere, the new generation of GPUs delivers unprecedented performance in modern video games. How do the new cards fare when it comes to accelerating the password recovery, and is an upgrade worth it for the forensic experts? Let’s find out.
Recovering Screen Time Passwords
December 15th, 2020 by Vladimir Katalov
The Screen Time password has been long recommended as an extra security layer. By setting a Screen Time password without any additional restrictions, Apple users could easily dodge attempts of changing or removing the screen lock passcode, resetting the iTunes backup password, or removing the activation lock. For a long time, removing the Screen Time password was not possible without either providing the original password or erasing the device. However, Apple had changed the way it works, making it possible to reset the Screen Time password with an iCloud/Apple ID password.
Elcomsoft vs. Hashcat Part 4: Case Studies
December 9th, 2020 by Andrey Malyshev
This is the final part of the series of articles comparing Elcomsoft Distributed Password Recovery with Hashcat. We’ve already compared the features, the price and performance of the two tools. In this study, we tried breaking passwords to several common formats, including Word document, an encrypted ZIP archive, and a VeraCrypt container. We summarized our experiences below.
How to Remove The iPhone Passcode You Cannot Remove
December 8th, 2020 by Vladimir Katalov
From time to time, we stumble upon a weird issue that interferes with the ability to install a jailbreak. One of such problems appearing literally out of the blue is the issue of being unable to remove the screen lock password on some iPhone devices. What could be the reason and how to work around the issue? Read along to find out!
The Evolution of iOS Acquisition: Jailbreaks, Exploits and Extraction Agent
December 3rd, 2020 by Oleg Afonin
The past two years have become a turning point in iOS acquisition. The release of a bootrom-based exploit and the corresponding jailbreak made BFU acquisition possible on multiple devices regardless of security patches. Another exploit covers the entire iOS 13 range on all devices regardless of their hardware revision. ElcomSoft developed a jailbreak-free extraction method for the entire iOS 9.0-13.7 range. Let’s see what low-level acquisition options are available today, and when to use what.
iOS Extraction Without a Jailbreak: iOS 9 through iOS 13.7 on All Devices
December 3rd, 2020 by Vladimir Katalov
After adding jailbreak-free extraction for iOS 13.5.1 through 13.7, we now support every Apple device running any version of iOS from 9.0 through 13.7 with no gaps or exclusions. For the first time, full file system extraction and keychain decryption are possible on all devices running these iOS versions.
Elcomsoft vs. Hashcat Part 3: Attacks, Costs, Performance and Extra Features
December 2nd, 2020 by Andrey Malyshev
Elcomsoft Distributed Password Recovery and Hashcat support a number of different attacks ranging from brute-force all the way to scriptable, dictionary-based attacks. The costs and performance are extremely important factors. We charge several hundred dollars for what, in the end, can be done with a free tool. Which tool has better performance, and are the extra features worth the price premium? Let’s check it out.
The ABC’s of Password Cracking: The True Meaning of Speed
November 30th, 2020 by Oleg Afonin
When adding a new encryption format or comparing the performance of different password recovery tools, we routinely quote the recovery speed expressed in the number of passwords per second. But what is the true meaning of password recovery speeds? Do the speeds depend solely, or at all, on the encryption algorithm? What’s “military grade” encryption, and does it guarantee the security of your data? And why on Earth breaking AES-256 encryption takes so vastly different effort in different file formats? Read along to find out.
Elcomsoft System Recovery: a Swiss Army Knife of Desktop Forensics
November 26th, 2020 by Oleg Afonin
Accessing a locked system is always a challenge. Encrypted disks and encrypted virtual machines, encrypted files and passwords are just a few things to mention. In this article we are proposing a straightforward workflow for investigating computers in the field.
Elcomsoft vs. Hashcat Part 2: Workflow, Distributed and Cloud Attacks
November 25th, 2020 by Oleg Afonin
The user interface is a major advantage of Elcomsoft tools. Setting up attacks in Elcomsoft Distributed Password Recovery is simpler and more straightforward compared to the command-line tool. In this article, we’ll talk about the general workflow, the use and configuration of distributed and cloud attacks in both products.
