We also trust these companies in ways that we do not understand yet. How many of you trust Apple? No voting… Just me 🙂 Damn! OK. May I ask you a very good question. Trusting to do what? Trusting when they say: “iMessages are end-to-end encrypted”? I mean, with all of that massive security engineering, to make sure it’s as good as it can be, so they genuinely believe they’ve done that. I do, generally, they’re great people. But… people believe themselves they can defend themselves against the Russians. If the Russians specifically targeted Apple, it’s only they can defend themselves. – Ian Levy, director at the GCHQ on anniversary of the foundation of the FIPR event that was held on 29/04/2018).

This is probably just a co-incident, but “the Russians” are concerned about iCloud security, too.

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With all attention now being on new iPhone devices, it is easy to forget about the new version of iOS. While new iPhone models were mostly secret until announcement, everyone could test iOS 11 for months before the official release.

Out previous article touches the issue of iOS 11 forensic implications. In this article we’ll cover what you can and what you cannot do with an iOS 11 device as a forensic expert. We’ll talk about which acquisition methods still works and which don’t, what you can and cannot extract compared to iOS 10, and what you need to know in order to make the job don’t.

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iOS 11 is finally here. We already covered some of the issues related to iOS 11 forensics, but that was only part of the story.

Should we expect a jailbreak? Is there still hope for physical acquisition? If not, is logical acquisition affected? Are there any notable changes in iCloud? What would be easier to do: logical or iCloud acquisition, and what are the prerequisites for either method? What do you begin with? How to make sure the suspect does not alter their iCloud storage or wipe their device in the process? Can we actually get more information from the cloud than from the device itself, even with physical, and why?

Spoiler: the short answer to the last question is “yes”. The long answer is a bit complicated. Keep reading.

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In the US, Factory Reset Protection (FRP) is a mandatory part of each mobile ecosystem. The use of factory reset protection in mobile devices helped tame smartphone theft by discouraging criminals and dramatically reducing resale value of stolen devices. Compared to other mobile ecosystems, Apple’s implementation of factory reset protection has always been considered exemplary. A combination of a locked bootloader, secure boot chain and obligatory online activation of every iPhone makes iCloud lock one exemplary implementation of factory reset protection.

All one needs to do is enable the Find My Phone option in iCloud settings. In fact, this option is enabled by default once you set up your new iPhone. After that, even if you lose your iPhone and someone else attempts to reset it to factory defaults, the device will be still locked to your iCloud account. Unlocking the device (removing iCloud lock) requires access to your Apple ID, password, and secondary authentication factor if you have Two-Factor Authentication enabled. Sounds pretty secure so far?

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Starting with version 7.0, Elcomsoft Phone Breaker has the ability to access, decrypt and display passwords stored in the user’s iCloud Keychain. The requirements and steps differ across Apple accounts, and depend on factors such as whether or not the user has Two-Factor Authentication, and if not, whether or not the user configured an iCloud Security Code. Let’s review the steps one needs to take in order to successfully acquire iCloud Keychain.

Pre-Requisites

Your ability to extract iCloud Keychain depends on whether or not the keychain in question is stored in the cloud. Apple provides several different implementations of iCloud Keychain. In certain cases, a copy of the keychain is stored in iCloud, while in some other cases it’s stored exclusively on user’s devices, while iCloud Keychain is used as a transport for secure synchronization of said passwords.

In our tests, we discovered that there is a single combination of factors when iCloud Keychain is not stored in the cloud and cannot be extracted with Elcomsoft Phone Breaker:

• If the user’s Apple ID account has no Two-Factor Authentication and no iCloud Security Code

In the following combinations, the keychain is stored in the cloud:

• If the user’s Apple ID account has no Two-Factor Authentication but has an iCloud Security Code (iCloud Security Code and one-time code that is delivered as a text message will be required)
• If Two-Factor Authentication is enabled (in this case, one must enter device passcode or system password to any device already enrolled in iCloud Keychain)

In both cases, the original Apple ID and password are required. Obviously, a one-time security code is also required in order to pass Two-Factor Authentication, if enabled. (more…)

Who needs access to iCloud Keychain, and why? The newly released Elcomsoft Phone Breaker 7.0 adds a single major feature that allows experts extracting, decrypting and viewing information stored in Apple’s protected storage. There are so many ifs and buts such as needing the user’s Apple ID and password, accessing their i-device or knowing a secret security code that one may legitimately wonder: what is it all about? Let’s find out about iCloud Keychain, why it’s so difficult to crack, and why it can be important for the expert.

What is iCloud Keychain

iCloud Keychain is Apple’s best protected vault. Since iCloud Keychain keeps the user’s most sensitive information, it’s protected in every way possible. By breaking in to the user’s iCloud Keychain, an intruder could immediately take control over the user’s online and social network accounts, profiles and identities, access their chats and conversations, and even obtain copies of personal identity numbers and credit card data. All that information is securely safeguarded.

Why It Can Be Important

Forensic access to iOS keychain is difficult due to several layers of encryption. Due to encryption, direct physical access to a locally stored keychain is normally impossible; the only possible acquisition options are through a local password-protected backup or iCloud Keychain. (more…)

In today’s world, everything is stored in the cloud. Your backups can be stored in the cloud. The “big brother” knows where you had lunch yesterday and how long you’ve been there. Your photos can back up to the cloud, as well as your calls and messages. Finally, your passwords are also stored online – at least if you don’t disable iCloud Keychain. Let’s follow the history of Apple iCloud, its most known hacks and our own forensic efforts.

The Timeline of iCloud and iOS Forensics

Our first iOS forensic product was released in February 2010. In 2010, we released what is known today as Elcomsoft Phone Breaker (we then called it “Elcomsoft Phone Password Breaker”). Back then, we were able to brute-force the password protecting encrypted iTunes-made iOS backups. At the time, this was it: you’ve got the password, and off you go. The tool did not actually decrypt the backup or displayed its content; it just recovered the password.

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