Hackers sold the FBI the secret of hacking the iPhone
Washington Post journalist Ellen Nakashima published the first public information on the iPhone 5C burglary situation running iOS 9. It was this smartphone that was used by a San Bernardino terrorist and served as a real stumbling block between the FBI and Apple in disclosing user data actions. Previously, the media have already published various information on this topic, since the issue was closed by the FBI without the involvement of Apple. However, some mistakenly called the Israeli company Cellebrite source of information for the FBI.
A source from the security services said that the smartphone was hacked by professional hackers and used at least one unknown vulnerability in iOS 9 software. The vulnerabilities helped the FBI to successfully use a special device for selecting the 4-digit iOS unlock code. The work of hackers was well paid, although the amount itself is not called. It took the specialists 26 minutes to select the unlock code, and the method itself only works on iPhone 5C with iOS 9. Thus, as Rob Graham pointed out earlier, the NAND Mirroring method was not used for this operation.
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A paragraph from the original WP article. The main task that had to be solved when selecting the correct unlock code is to bypass the device’s data destruction mechanism after ten incorrect attempts to enter the unlock code. In addition to bypassing this security feature, the exploit should have helped the FBI device bypass the automatically increasing latency between sets of unlock codes that iOS 9 uses. Both of these security features were successfully compromised.
The source also argues that the intelligence agencies are thinking about the disclosure of vulnerabilities used by Apple to close them.
It is known that such exploits for iOS are very expensive and their cost can start at $ 250k and end in a million. It was the last amount that Zerodium offered for an exploit for iOS 9, which would allow remotely launching iOS code with maximum rights in the system. It is known that Zerodium managed to pay at least one such sum to a group of hackers who demonstrated a method of bypassing virtually all iOS security features.
The same applies to the situation on the market for the purchase / sale of other exploits. As we pointed out a few years ago, hackers from special firms enter into lucrative contracts with government organizations to develop exploits, which can then be used in state-sponsored cyber attacks.
A source from the security services said that the smartphone was hacked by professional hackers and used at least one unknown vulnerability in iOS 9 software. The vulnerabilities helped the FBI to successfully use a special device for selecting the 4-digit iOS unlock code. The work of hackers was well paid, although the amount itself is not called. It took the specialists 26 minutes to select the unlock code, and the method itself only works on iPhone 5C with iOS 9. Thus, as Rob Graham pointed out earlier, the NAND Mirroring method was not used for this operation.
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It was estimated that the FBI had been cracked the four-digit PIN for 26 minutes. It’s not possible to guess at the guessing the code. A second feature also steadily increases between allowed attempts.
A paragraph from the original WP article. The main task that had to be solved when selecting the correct unlock code is to bypass the device’s data destruction mechanism after ten incorrect attempts to enter the unlock code. In addition to bypassing this security feature, the exploit should have helped the FBI device bypass the automatically increasing latency between sets of unlock codes that iOS 9 uses. Both of these security features were successfully compromised.
The source also argues that the intelligence agencies are thinking about the disclosure of vulnerabilities used by Apple to close them.
The White House-led group.
It is known that such exploits for iOS are very expensive and their cost can start at $ 250k and end in a million. It was the last amount that Zerodium offered for an exploit for iOS 9, which would allow remotely launching iOS code with maximum rights in the system. It is known that Zerodium managed to pay at least one such sum to a group of hackers who demonstrated a method of bypassing virtually all iOS security features.
The same applies to the situation on the market for the purchase / sale of other exploits. As we pointed out a few years ago, hackers from special firms enter into lucrative contracts with government organizations to develop exploits, which can then be used in state-sponsored cyber attacks.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/281573/
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