A pre-requisite to successful forensic analysis is accurate information about the device being investigated. Knowing the exact model number of the device helps identify the SoC used and the range of available iOS versions, which in turn pre-determines the available acquisition methods. Identifying the iPhone model may not be as obvious as it may seem. In this article, we’ll go through several methods for finding the iPhone model.

While we continue working on the major update to iOS Forensic Toolkit with forensically sound checkm8 extraction, we keep updating the current release branch. iOS Forensic Toolkit 7.30 brings low-level file system extraction support for iOS 15.1, expanding the ability to perform full file system extraction on iOS devices ranging from the iPhone 8 through iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Regular or disposable Apple IDs can now be used to extract data from compatible iOS devices if you have a Mac. The use of a non-developer Apple ID carries certain risks and restrictions. In particular, one must “verify” the extraction agent on the target iPhone, which requires an active Internet connection. Learn how to verify the extraction agent signed with a regular or disposable Apple ID without the risk of receiving an accidental remote lock or remote erase command.

Cloud backups are an invaluable source of information whether you download them from the user’s iCloud account or obtain directly from Apple. But why some iCloud backups miss essential bits and pieces of information such as text messages, particularly iMessages? The answer is “end-to-end encryption”, and there’s more to it than just backups.

Do you have to know which SoC a certain Apple device is based on? If you are working in mobile forensics, the answer is positive. Along with the version of iOS/watchOS/iPadOS, the SoC is one of the deciding factors that affects the data extraction paths available in each case. Read this article to better understand your options for each generation of Apple platforms.

Over the last several years, the use of smart wearables continued to grow despite slowing sales. Among the many models, the Apple Watch Series 3 occupies a special spot. Introduced back in 2017, this model is still available new, occupying the niche of the most affordable wearable device in the Apple ecosystem. All that makes the Series 3 one of the most common Apple Watch models. The latest update to iOS Forensic Toolkit enables low-level extraction of the Apple Watch 3 using the checkm8 exploit.

The fifth beta of iOS Forensic Toolkit 8 for Mac introduces forensically sound, checkm8-based extraction of Apple Watch Series 3. How to connect the watch to the computer, what data is available and how to apply the exploit? Check out this comprehensive guide!

Last month, we released the tool and published the guide on forensically sound extraction of the iPhone 7 generation of devices. Today, we have added support for the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and iPhone X, making iOS Forensic Toolkit the first and only forensically sound iPhone extraction tool delivering repeatable and verifiable results for all 64-bit iPhone devices that can be exploited with checkm8. While the previous publication talks about the details on acquiring the iPhone 7, there are some things different when it comes to the last generation of checkm8-supported devices.

In order to use the checkm8-based acquisition, the device must be placed into DFU (Device Firmware Update) mode first, and this is the trickiest part of the process. There is no software way to enter DFU, so you have to do it manually. This article describes how to do it properly for the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X that are now supported by Elcomsoft iOS Forensic Toolkit.

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.