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Apparently a 3rd party from Israel (http://www.cellebrite.com/ http://www.cellebrite.com/ [unconfirmed]) helped the FBI which begs the question, how did they do

Apparently a 3rd party from Israel (http://www.cellebrite.com/ http://www.cellebrite.com/ [unconfirmed]) helped the FBI which begs the question, how did they do it? Do they have universal access to all iOS devices or just this particular device? If there is a known vulnerability, I'm willing to bet Apple will find it rather quickly. I'd imagine Apple has engineers pouring over the source code now.

bdg 11y ago
What is your source on that?
- nodesocket 11y ago
  CNBC. Here is a link to the video where they mention Cellebrite. http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000505023 http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000505023
  - ne0codex 11y ago
    While stumbling upon different articles, I came across this video on YouTube of a guy in Shenzhen, China, that can replace the internal 16GB storage with a 128GB capacity NAND, so it's highly possible that a modified version of this is what's been done to the iPhone.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=198&v=2bGb5AOwp44 https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=198&v=2bGb5AOwp4...
    - yq 11y ago
      this is so cool, don't understand why you get downvoted. I thought we are in hackernews.
    - superuser2 11y ago
      There's no doubt that the FBI could arbitrarily edit/replace the contents of storage, the trick is getting it to boot after that. That's why they wanted Apple's cooperation to sign code or hand over the code signing keys.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
dublinben 11y ago
If anyone was going to break into this device, it would have been them. Cellebrite have been the leaders in forensic data extraction from mobile devices for years. Most police departments have at least one of their readers for collecting information from seized phones. Years ago, I could never get a good answer from them whether they could extract information from encrypted devices. I guess we now know what the answer is, they can if they really want to.
BinaryIdiot 11y ago
It is not known that Cellebrite helped them. The rumors that they did stem from a contract they have with the FBI that is unrelated. In fact the contract they have with the FBI doesn't supply anything that can break into an iOS 9 device so unless they had a separate product line not included in a contract only two months old it's unlikely it was them.
- dogma1138 11y ago
  Cellebrite has allot of products that aren't advertised directly which are provided through their CAIS services (and there are also at least additional 2 unlisted service tiers). They have allot of turnkey solutions for various markets as mobile forensics is only a part of their portfolio, but quite a few of their forensic services and products are not publicly listed. *I worked for an Israeli information security firm that is a research partner and service provider for cellebrite.

bdg 11y ago

What is your source on that?

nodesocket 11y ago
CNBC. Here is a link to the video where they mention Cellebrite. http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000505023 http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000505023
- ne0codex 11y ago
  While stumbling upon different articles, I came across this video on YouTube of a guy in Shenzhen, China, that can replace the internal 16GB storage with a 128GB capacity NAND, so it's highly possible that a modified version of this is what's been done to the iPhone.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=198&v=2bGb5AOwp44 https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=198&v=2bGb5AOwp4...
  - yq 11y ago
    this is so cool, don't understand why you get downvoted. I thought we are in hackernews.
  - superuser2 11y ago
    There's no doubt that the FBI could arbitrarily edit/replace the contents of storage, the trick is getting it to boot after that. That's why they wanted Apple's cooperation to sign code or hand over the code signing keys.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]

dublinben 11y ago

If anyone was going to break into this device, it would have been them. Cellebrite have been the leaders in forensic data extraction from mobile devices for years. Most police departments have at least one of their readers for collecting information from seized phones. Years ago, I could never get a good answer from them whether they could extract information from encrypted devices. I guess we now know what the answer is, they can if they really want to.

BinaryIdiot 11y ago

It is not known that Cellebrite helped them. The rumors that they did stem from a contract they have with the FBI that is unrelated. In fact the contract they have with the FBI doesn't supply anything that can break into an iOS 9 device so unless they had a separate product line not included in a contract only two months old it's unlikely it was them.

dogma1138 11y ago
Cellebrite has allot of products that aren't advertised directly which are provided through their CAIS services (and there are also at least additional 2 unlisted service tiers). They have allot of turnkey solutions for various markets as mobile forensics is only a part of their portfolio, but quite a few of their forensic services and products are not publicly listed. *I worked for an Israeli information security firm that is a research partner and service provider for cellebrite.