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I think you're misinterpreting the guidelines; specifically: Upon receipt of a valid search warrant, Apple can extract certain categories of active data from p

I think you're misinterpreting the guidelines; specifically: Upon receipt of a valid search warrant, Apple can extract certain categories of active data from passcode locked iOS devices. Specifically, the user generated active files on an iOS device that are contained in Apple’s native apps and for which the data is not encrypted using the passcode (“user generated active files”), can be extracted and provided to law enforcement on external media. In other words, the only data which can be extracted is data which is not encrypted on the device using the passcode. So I don't really think this qualifies as a backdoor; it's just that physical access to the device allows them to retrieve unencrypted data.

pilif 13y ago
I was of the opinion that iOS uses full disk encryption, throwing away the key when the device is locked. This is further substantiated by the fact that a full reset is now instantaneous whereas it took a while in the old days. In that case I wonder how some data can both be instantaneously be wiped but not be encrypted. Which is why I believe there to be a backdoor for the full disc encryption on the device. That's the only way how to reliably get access to the device when it's full disk encrypted and the key is not in memory any more.
- matthewmacleod 13y ago
  You don't need to rely on an opinion; there's a fairly in-depth description of iOS security available direct from Apple: https://www.apple.com/ipad/business/docs/iOS_Security_Oct12.pdf https://www.apple.com/ipad/business/docs/iOS_Security_Oct12.... My understanding is that files under iOS are grouped into various classes with different levels of protection. Some data is under a class for which the key is discarded when the device is locked; this requires the passcode to be entered again before access can be gained. Some data doesn't have full protection applied to it - for example, the phone must be able to display the name of a caller even when locked, so it's intuitively obvious that contact names/numbers can't have this applied. I'm not sure exactly what the scope of each class is, but Apple do claim to be enable to retrieve things like mail, and if the implementation is as they describe then I see a limited scope for backdoored encryption - obviously it's always possible, but none of the information they've released about capabilities is contradictory.
- bni 13y ago
  Was my impression aswell. So this means if I sell my iPhone to someone (after resetting it obviously) it is possible the buyer could retrieve my Contacts and SMS messages from the flash memory?

pilif 13y ago

I was of the opinion that iOS uses full disk encryption, throwing away the key when the device is locked. This is further substantiated by the fact that a full reset is now instantaneous whereas it took a while in the old days. In that case I wonder how some data can both be instantaneously be wiped but not be encrypted. Which is why I believe there to be a backdoor for the full disc encryption on the device. That's the only way how to reliably get access to the device when it's full disk encrypted and the key is not in memory any more.

matthewmacleod 13y ago
You don't need to rely on an opinion; there's a fairly in-depth description of iOS security available direct from Apple: https://www.apple.com/ipad/business/docs/iOS_Security_Oct12.pdf https://www.apple.com/ipad/business/docs/iOS_Security_Oct12.... My understanding is that files under iOS are grouped into various classes with different levels of protection. Some data is under a class for which the key is discarded when the device is locked; this requires the passcode to be entered again before access can be gained. Some data doesn't have full protection applied to it - for example, the phone must be able to display the name of a caller even when locked, so it's intuitively obvious that contact names/numbers can't have this applied. I'm not sure exactly what the scope of each class is, but Apple do claim to be enable to retrieve things like mail, and if the implementation is as they describe then I see a limited scope for backdoored encryption - obviously it's always possible, but none of the information they've released about capabilities is contradictory.
bni 13y ago
Was my impression aswell. So this means if I sell my iPhone to someone (after resetting it obviously) it is possible the buyer could retrieve my Contacts and SMS messages from the flash memory?