Forensic Implications of Apple’s “Stolen Device Protection”
March 10th, 2025 by Oleg Afonin
With the release of iOS 17.3, Apple introduced a new security feature called “Stolen Device Protection.” This functionality is designed to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data in cases where a thief has gained knowledge of an iPhone’s passcode. While this feature significantly enhances security for end users, it simultaneously creates substantial obstacles for digital forensic experts, complicating lawful data extraction.
Jailbreaking Apple TV 4K
June 12th, 2020 by Vladimir Katalov
Is jailbreaking an Apple TV worth it? If you are working in the forensics, it definitely is. When connected to the user’s Apple account with full iCloud access, the Apple TV synchronizes a lot of data. That data may contain important evidence, and sometimes may even help access other iCloud data. I have some great news for the forensic crowd: the Apple TV does not have a passcode. And some bad news: jailbreaking is not as easy and straightforward as we’d like it to be. Let’s have a look at what can be done.
iCloud Extraction Streamlined
June 11th, 2020 by Vladimir Katalov
Apple iCloud contains massive amounts of data, which may become highly valuable evidence. The oldest and most frequently mentioned are iCloud backups, which ElcomSoft were the first to extract back in 2012. A lot has changed since then. Today, iCloud backups account for a very minor part of the evidence available in iCloud. Learn what types of data are stored in iCloud, how Apple protects the data with end-to-end encryption, and how to access that valuable evidence with the updated Elcomsoft Phone Breaker.
iCloud Backups, Synced Data and End-to-End Encryption
June 10th, 2020 by Oleg Afonin
Since iOS 5, Apple allows users to back up their phones and tablets automatically into their iCloud account. Initially, iCloud backups were similar in content to local (iTunes) backups without the password. However, the introduction of iCloud sync has changed the rules of the game. With more types of data synchronized through iCloud as opposed to being backed up, the content of iCloud backups gets slimmed down as synchronized information is excluded from cloud backups (but still present in local backups).
Apple Two-Factor Authentication: SMS vs. Trusted Devices
June 8th, 2020 by Oleg Afonin
Multi-factor authentication is the new reality. A password alone is no longer considered sufficient. Phishing attacks, frequent leaks of password databases and the ubiquitous issue of reusing passwords make password protection unsafe. Adding “something that you have” to “something that you know” improves the security considerably, having the potential of cutting a chain attack early even in worst case scenarios. However, not all types of two-factor authentication are equally secure. Let’s talk about the most commonly used type of two-factor authentication: the one based on text messages (SMS) delivered to a trusted phone number.
Researching Confide Messenger Encryption
June 8th, 2020 by Ivan Ponurovskiy
iPhone users have access to literally hundreds of instant messaging apps. These apps range all the way from the built-in iMessage app to the highly secure Signal messengers, with all stops in between. Many of the messaging apps are marketed as ‘secure’ or ‘protected’ messengers, touting end-to-end encryption and zero retention policies. We routinely verify such claims by analyzing the security of various instant messaging apps. It turned out that the degree of protection can vary greatly, having little to do with the developers’ claims. Today we’ll check out Confide, a tool advertising unprecedented level of security.
checkra1n & unc0ver: How Would You Like to Jailbreak Today?
June 3rd, 2020 by Vladimir Katalov
Extracting the fullest amount of information from the iPhone, which includes a file system image and decrypted keychain records, often requires installing a jailbreak. Even though forensically sound acquisition methods that work without jailbreaking do exist, they may not be available depending on the tools you use. A particular combination of iOS hardware and software may also render those tools ineffective, requiring a fallback to jailbreak. Today, the two most popular and most reliable jailbreaks are checkra1n and unc0ver. How do they fare against each other, and when would you want to use each?
Full File System and Keychain Acquisition with unc0ver jailbreak: iOS 13.3.1 to 13.5
May 27th, 2020 by Vladimir Katalov
The unc0ver v5 jailbreak has been available for a while now. It supports the newest versions of iOS up to and including iOS 13.5, and this is fantastic news for DFIR community, as it allows extracting the full file system and the keychain when acquiring the newest latest iPhone models such as the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, and SE 2020. In this article, I’ll talk about the unc0ver jailbreak, the installation and usage for the purpose of file system extraction, and discuss the differences between jailbreak-based and jailbreak-free extraction.
Clearing Confusion About our Password Recovery Tools
May 27th, 2020 by Oleg Afonin
There is a bit of confusion about our software designed to allow breaking into password-protected systems, files, documents, and encrypted containers. We have as many as three products (and five different tools) dealing with the matter: Elcomsoft Forensic Disk Decryptor (with an unnamed memory dumping tool), Elcomsoft System Recovery and Elcomsoft Distributed Password Recovery, which also includes Elcomsoft Hash Extractor as part of the package. Let’s briefly go through all of them. Hopefully it will help you select the right product for your needs and save time in your investigation.
Full File System Extraction for iOS 13.3.1, 13.4 and 13.4.1
May 26th, 2020 by Vladimir Katalov
Elcomsoft iOS Forensic Toolkit 6.0 is out, adding direct, forensically sound extraction for Apple devices running some of the latest versions of iOS including iOS 13.3.1, 13.4 and 13.4.1. Supported devices include the entire iPhone 6s, 7, 8, X, Xr/Xs, 11, and 11 Pro (including Plus and Max versions) range, the iPhone SE, and corresponding iPad models. Let’s review the changes and talk about the new acquisition method in general.
iOS Jailbreaks, SSH, and root Password
May 26th, 2020 by Ivan Ponurovskiy
Users of iOS Forensic Toolkit who are using jailbreak-based acquisition sometimes have issues connecting to the device. More often than not, the issues are related to SSH. The SSH server may be missing or not installed with a jailbreak (which is particularly common for iOS 9 and 10 devices). A less common issue is a non-default root password. Learn how to identify these issues and how to deal with them.
