Looks Can Lie: Is That Really an NVMe Drive?
March 17th, 2026 by Oleg Afonin
Many storage devices and adapter boards look alike. When holding a module with a connector that looks suspiciously like the M.2, how do you know exactly what you are dealing with? Is that M.2 board a SATA drive, a fast NVMe device or a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth combo? Will a drive removed from an Apple computer work in a simple mechanical adapter, or will it require the original Apple device to access? A physical connector does not guarantee the underlying technology.
The Life and Death of iCloud Authentication Tokens: Historical Perspective
November 30th, 2017 by Vladimir Katalov
What are iCloud authentication tokens? How they are better than good old passwords? Do they ever expire and when? Where to get them? Is there anything else I should know about tokens? This publication opens a new series on token-based authentication.
iOS 11 Horror Story: the Rise and Fall of iOS Security
November 29th, 2017 by Oleg Afonin
We loved what Apple used to do about security. During the past years, the company managed to build a complete, multi-layer system to secure its hardware and software ecosystem and protect its customers against common threats. Granted, the system was not without its flaws (most notably, the obligatory use of a trusted phone number – think SS7 vulnerability – for the purpose of two-factor authentication), but overall it was still the most secure mobile ecosystem on the market.
Breaking Apple iCloud: Reset Password and Bypass Two-Factor Authentication
November 28th, 2017 by Vladimir Katalov
Who am I to tell you to use two-factor authentication on all accounts that support it? This recommendation coming from someone whose business is supplying law enforcement with tools helping them do their job might be taken with a grain of salt by an average consumer. Yet we still strongly believe that, however good a password you have to encrypt your local documents or NAS drives, any remotely popular online service absolutely requires an additional authentication factor.
Target: Apple Two-Factor Authentication
November 28th, 2017 by Oleg Afonin
Two-factor authentication is essential to secure one’s access to online accounts. We studied multiple implementations of two-factor authentication including those offered by Apple, Google and Microsoft. While Google’s implementation offers the largest number of options, we feel that Apple has the most balanced implementation. The closed ecosystem and the resulting deep integration with the core OS makes it easy for Apple to control exactly how it works and on which devices.
The Future of Android Security: Why Google Pushes Away from SMS to Prompt Verification
November 23rd, 2017 by Oleg Afonin
Google has started its journey on convincing people to move away from SMS-based verification, and start receiving push messages via the Google Prompt instead of using six-digit codes. Why does Google want us away from SMS, and why using Google Prompt instead? Let’s try to find out.
iOS 11 Makes Logical Acquisition Trivial, Allows Resetting iTunes Backup Password
November 9th, 2017 by Oleg Afonin
Since early days of iOS, iTunes-style system backups could be protected with a password. The password was always the property of the device; if the backup was protected with a password, it would come out encrypted. It didn’t matter whether one made a backup with iTunes, iOS Forensic Toolkit or other forensic software during the course of logical acquisition; if a backup password was enabled, all you’d get would be a stream of encrypted data.
The iPhone is Locked-Down: Dealing with Cold Boot Situations
November 9th, 2017 by Oleg Afonin
Even today, seizing and storing portable electronic devices is still troublesome. The possibility of remote wipe routinely makes police officers shut down smartphones being seized in an attempt to preserve evidence. While this strategy used to work just a few short years ago, this strategy is counter-productive today with full-disk encryption. In all versions of iOS since iOS 8, this encryption is based on the user’s passcode. Once the iPhone is powered off, the encryption key is lost, and the only way to decrypt the phone’s content is unlocking the device with the user’s original passcode. Or is it?
What can be extracted from locked iPhones with new iOS Forensic Toolkit
November 9th, 2017 by Vladimir Katalov
Tired of reading on lockdown/pairing records? Sorry, we can’t stop. Pairing records are the key to access the content of a locked iPhone. We have recently made a number of findings allowing us to extract even more information from locked devices through the use of lockdown records. It’s not a breakthrough discovery and will never make front page news, but having more possibilities is always great.
The art of iOS and iCloud forensics
November 2nd, 2017 by Vladimir Katalov
iOS 11 has arrived, now running on every second Apple device. There could not be a better time to reminiscent how iOS forensics has started just a few short years ago. Let’s have a look at what was possible back then, what is possible now, and what can be expected of iOS forensics in the future.
Can You Unlock That iPhone?
October 30th, 2017 by Vladimir Katalov
“Can you unlock that iPhone?” is one of the most common questions we hear on various events and from our customers. There is no simple answer, but more often than not some options are available.
