US law enforcement agencies have acquired an iPhone unlocking device that can access all Apple phones with the operating system iOS 11 and later. It is a box called GrayKey, which is made by Grayshift.
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We already informed you that GrayKey can crack four-digit and six-digit passcodes in a matter of days, but information has surfaced thatmacand that the phone will be unlocked in a much shorter time. Apparently, the GrayKey device should unlock iPhone se with a six-digit access code in just a few hours.
Matthew Green, an assistant professor and cryptographer at the John Hopkins Information Security Institute, wrote on Twitter that GrayKey can obtain a four-digit code in just 6,5 minutes and a six-digit code in 11 hours.
Guide to iOS estimated passcode cracking times (assumes random decimal passcode + an exploit that breaks SEP throttling):
4 digits: ~13min worst (~6.5avg)
6 digits: ~22.2hrs worst (~11.1avg)
8 digits: ~92.5days worst (~46avg)
10 digits: ~9259days worst (~4629avg)— Matthew Green is on BlueSky (@matthew_d_green) April 16, 2018
V iOS You can set it to erase all data on your iPhone after 10 failed passcode attempts. Additionally, after 5 failed attempts, iPhone blocks it for a certain period of time, for example 5 minutes. However, it seems that GrayKey can bypass such protections.
Although it is not confirmed whether GrayKey can actually unlock iPhone in as short a time as Green stated, but even at a slower speed, it takes a few days to unlock. With an eight-digit code, the box would handle it in a month and a few days, and with a ten-digit code in more than 13 years.
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After release iOS 9 in 2015, the Cupertino company started using a six-digit code, so iOS devices were better protected, however, at that time there was no knowledge of the GrayKey device, for which a six-digit code is nothing it cannot overcome.
Security experts agree that people should use an alphanumeric passcode that is at least seven characters long and uses numbers, letters and symbols. If you want to change the access code from the original six-digit numeric to alphanumeric, just go to Settings → Touch ID and code lock (on iPhone X) Face ID and code lock) → Change the lock code → Code options → Custom alphanumeric code.
See how to change a numeric passcode to alphanumeric:
Once you select an alphanumeric code, you will see a classic keyboard instead of a numeric keypad when entering the code.
