Over the years, Apple has been projecting and advertising itself as a champion of privacy and security. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently asked the Cupertino company to assist them in unlocking the iPhone of a suspect in a shooting incident. To most of us, the iPhone is far secure than other smartphones available in the market today, but we could be wrong.
A report from Vice reveals that the government has been doing an impressive job of cracking despite the refusal of Apple to help. The report cites the statement of Detective Rex Riser of the Forth worth Police Department. Kiser is in-charge of handling digital forensic examinations of the law enforcement unit.
The forensics detective revealed that Android smartphones had become harder to crack now than they were a year ago. He explained that before, they were having a hard time getting into iPhones but could crack into all Androids. Now, the table has turned, and it's the Android that's becoming harder to crack than iPhones.
In the recent case where the FBI asked for Apple's help in cracking the iPhone of an alleged suspect, the bureau got help from Cellebrite. It is an Israeli company that develops data extraction tools for mobile devices. Reports claim that the company has a tool that could crack almost all iPhones all the way to the iPhone X series.
Through its tools, users could easily gain access to the device's data, such as messages, contacts, call logs, among others. Additionally, the tool could access data from various apps, including LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. It is very helpful since gaining access to these data could help law enforcement prosecute criminals.
Although the forensic detective shared that they are having a hard time getting into Android smartphones, it does not entirely mean that it is uncrackable. It is still possible for the authorities to unlock any devices, although it would take so much time. Recently, several sites were talking about the Amazon CEO and billionaire Jeff Bezos.
The reports were not about his company or his investment but about his iPhone X. The CEO reportedly received a video message on his WhatsApp account that may have malware. It allowed hackers to get into his iPhone X and gain access to his private messages, contacts, photos, and other important data.
According to a cybersecurity team investigating Bezos' hacked iPhone X, the video message was sent from the WhatsApp account of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The Saudi Arabia government already denied the allegation and called it absurd.
