According to a recent report from 404 Media, law enforcement agencies in Detroit, Michigan, suspect that iOS 18 has introduced a “new security feature that instructs nearby iPhones to reboot if they remain disconnected from a cellular network for a period of time.”
Following a reboot, users typically need to re-enter their passcode. Authorities are concerned that this complicates the unlocking process for iPhones collected for forensic investigations. A document shared among law enforcement officials and obtained by 404 Media elaborates on the recent changes.
404 Media states:
The document indicates that a digital forensics lab has several iPhones in their facility in an After First Unlock (AFU) state. The AFU state means that since the last time the device was activated, it has been unlocked by the user’s passcode or similar at least once. Typically, law enforcement finds it simpler to access devices in an AFU state using specialized tools.
Post-reboot, the affected iPhones transitioned into a Before First Unlock (BFU) condition. “Unlocking these devices became significantly more challenging, and as per the document, breaking into them is currently impossible with available tools,” the report details.
Law enforcement officials have noted that this issue has impacted iPhones that were in Airplane Mode and one that was kept in a Faraday box.
The document states that three iPhones running iOS 18.0, the latest significant version of Apple’s operating system, were examined in the lab on October 3. Authorities hypothesize that “the iPhone devices with iOS 18.0 brought into the lab, if conditions were right, communicated with other powered-on iPhone devices in the vault that were in AFU. This communication sent a signal for devices to reboot after a certain period had passed without activity or being off the network.” They suspect this could affect any iOS 18.0 devices, not just those submitted as evidence but also personal devices of forensic examiners.
As of now, Apple has not provided any comment on this report or the associated law enforcement document. It’s uncertain whether this represents a bug within iOS 18, a planned feature shift by Apple, misinterpretation among law enforcement, or a blend of these factors.
Matthew Green, a cryptographer and associate professor at Johns Hopkins University, remarked to 404 Media that the theory suggesting iPhones are secretly communicating is “utterly bizarre and amazing.” Nevertheless, Green finds the hypothesis to be “deeply suspect.”
For more details, you can view the full report on the 404 Media website.
FTC: We utilize income-generating auto affiliate links. More.
