Apple's new iOS 18 new security feature has backfired on law enforcer officers who has been locked out of an iPhone they were trying to crack for a forensic investigation.
Just last week, law enforcer officers noticed that the iPhones that were being stored for forensics investigations were "mysteriously rebooting", prohibiting them from digging out vital information from the phones.
Dr Jiska Classen said that this is the new feature that Apple has released in its latest iOS 18.1 update, which reboots a user's iPhone if it has not been unlocked for a certain period of time.
Inactivity reboot
This new feature is called "inactivity reboot." While it might be a headache to some police officers, but it's generally good for most users.
The inactivity reboot code basically brings an inactivity timer to users' iPhones devices, which would start after it is unlocked or when a user first unlocks their iPhones since it has been turned on.
If the phone is inactive for four days, the inactivity reboot feature would kick in and reboot the phone. The reboot will bring the phone into a "Before First Unlock" state, which makes it much harder for third parties like bad actors or law enforcement to then access with forensics or cracking tools.
One cryptographer explained that the purpose of this feature is to deter thieves from stealing iPhones, cracking devices, and then reselling them or using your private data for nefarious reasons. However, it does appear that law enforcers are affected by the change and are now spreading the world to others in the field about how to deal with it.
Catherine
