The report notes that while this is good for law enforcement, it imposes a risk and should be a concern for the public.
The site says GrayKey is a device used in-house at local law enforcement labs and offices, vastly different than Cellebrite, the company behind the unlocking of the iPhone 5c in the San Bernardino case. However, in 2017, a company by the name of ‘Grayshift’ created a device called ‘GrayKey’ that successfully unlocked iPhones without knowing the passcode.īased in Atlanta, Georgia, the company employs less than 50 employees, and up until this point it was unknown whether ‘GrayKey’ was a service or product. However, MalwareBytes has been able to get their hands on some photos of the device, and notes that the “website is protected by a portal that screens for law enforcement affiliation.” After going back and forth on the case, the FBI eventually dropped the case entirely after it found a third-party company able to gain access to the device. State Department allegedly already has one as well, while the Secret Service and Drug Enforcement Administration are also looking into making a purchase.It’s been a few years since the San Bernardino debacle between law enforcement and Apple over the company refusing to create a back door to unlock an iPhone. While this may sound expensive, authorities ultimately paid Israeli company Cellebrite $900,000 to unlock the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone.Īs per a report from Motherboard, a number of police forces - including ones in Maryland and Indiana - have already acquired or are considering acquiring a GrayKey. Then, there’s a $30,000 version, which does not depend on the internet to work, and does not have a limit on the number of phones it can unlock. It’s also geofenced, which means that once it’s been activated, it cannot be used on another internet network. The first requires internet connectivity, and will set police stations back $15,000. So how much does this device cost? There are two options available.
Moreover, Malwarebytes reports, “The full, unencrypted contents of the keychain are also available for download.” Once a device is unlocked, its contents are downloaded to the GrayKey, where they can be further analyzed by the powers that be either on a connected computer, or as a downloaded file. As per a Forbes report, the GrayKey is meant for law enforcement officials or labs, which means that it is indeed a device designed specifically for the authorities. GrayKey comes from a company called Grayshift, an Atlanta-based company founded in 2016. But allegedly, this device works for disabled phones, as well as phones running iOS 11.
It can, however, take up to three days or even longer for longer passwords (up to six digits), and for passwords even longer than that, there’s no word yet in exactly how long it takes. While they’re not immediately unlocked upon disconnection, Malwarebytes reports that “some time later, the phones will display a black screen with the passcode, among other information.”Įxactly how long it takes to unlock the phone varies, and in Malwarebytes’ observation, it took about two hours. Using the device, you can connect two iPhones simultaneously, and users are meant to keep them connected for about two minutes.
It’s called GrayKey, and it’s a small grey box with two lightning cables that stick out like antennae. law enforcement agencies are buying a cost-effective device capable of unlocking iPhones without breaking a sweat. It would appear that an increasing number of U.S. Unlocking an iPhone may no longer be the arduous task it once was for law enforcement officials.
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