A company is offering a service to the public that unlocks the iPhone if you forgot your password or the owner is deceased. This expensive ($3,900) service may use the hardware box talked about earlier this year that is available to law enforcement to break into iPhones.
You can read more at Apple Insider and MacRumors. However, Apple has fixed the flaw that allowed such a hack to break into iPhones. In addition, Apple also allows users to lock the Lightning port on the iPhone to prevent any such attack after a period of non-use. So it is unclear whether this service only works with older or non-updated phones, or perhaps just doesn’t have the 100% success rate claimed.
While the company offering this says they will only unlock phones if you verify you are the owner, or have a legal right to unlock the phone of a deceased person, it isn’t hard to think of how the service could be abused. Or, if this is a new flaw to be able to crack iPhones, then perhaps it won’t be long before others offer a less regulated approach. On the other hand, if this is a new flaw, it most likely won’t be long before Apple figures out the issue and patches it.
