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return2ozma@lemmy.world to Technology@lemmy.worldEnglish · 2 years ago

iPhones Seized by Cops Are Rebooting, and No One’s Sure Why

gizmodo.com

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iPhones Seized by Cops Are Rebooting, and No One’s Sure Why

gizmodo.com

return2ozma@lemmy.world to Technology@lemmy.worldEnglish · 2 years ago
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Cops in Detroit are sending out a warning about what they suspect is a new security feature in iOS 18.
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  • BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    If this is indeed a security feature I’m about to buy my first iPhone.

    • HEXN3T@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      deleted by creator

      • CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee
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        2 years ago

        Wouldn’t this make your phone reboot all night while you’re sleeping?

        • VehicleTree@lemmy.ca
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          2 years ago

          It will only reboot once unless it is unlocked again https://grapheneos.org/features#auto-reboot

        • HEXN3T@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          deleted by creator

          • bobs_monkey@lemm.ee
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            2 years ago

            I keep mine on in case of family emergencies, it’s also my alarm clock

            • HEXN3T@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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              2 years ago

              The only solution would be to simply turn the setting off at night, or have developers add an automatic scheduling option. Of course, you can just set the timer to be longer than your sleep schedule as well, but then you miss out on security.

              • bobs_monkey@lemm.ee
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                2 years ago

                Iirc phone calls and alarms still work after a reboot in the lock status, it just disables biometric unlock and keeps the filesystem encrypted

                • HEXN3T@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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                  2 years ago

                  Well, funny thing–I was once late for a job because my alarm didn’t go off. Guess why? Yep, auto reboot. There was even a notification saying the alarm didn’t go off. Very odd behaviour, but that’s what happened.

        • catloaf@lemm.ee
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          2 years ago

          Presumably it doesn’t reboot unless it was already unlocked.

        • Kairos@lemmy.today
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          2 years ago

          You can adjust the time.

      • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        Two hours seems extremely low.

        • Ghoelian@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          2 years ago

          On grapheneos it’s a setting, 18 hours by default I believe, but adjustable from 10 minutes to 72 hours.

          • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
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            2 years ago

            That seems much more reasonable. Thanks for the info.

      • variants@possumpat.io
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        2 years ago

        What is the good thing about a phone rebooting?

        • stoly@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          When you input your password, then your biometrics (faceID, fingerprint, etc) become active. A restart requires you to enter that again. The police can make you put your finger on your phone or look at it, but they can’t make you divulge your password without a court order.

          • AlternateRoute@lemmy.ca
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            2 years ago

            There are have also been some exploits that are possible ONLY while the machine is booted and already in that state unlocked state, rebooting relocks all the HW encryption and clears main memory.

        • pHr34kY@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          Law enforcement have tools to bypass lockscreens and access the data on the device. They use backdoors and exploits, so older phones are more vulnerable. Most exploits only work if the phone has been unlocked at some point since it was booted.

          This is why law enforcement keep them powered-on, and in a faraday cage. They are in a state with a better chance of unlock, but have no signal so nobody can remotely find/lock/wipe it.

    • SatyrSack@feddit.org
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      2 years ago

      Don’t switch to a privacy-violating platform just for a feature found in open source operating systems.

      https://grapheneos.org/features#auto-reboot

    • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de
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      2 years ago

      Android has it as well. It’s customizable, too.

    • catloaf@lemm.ee
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      2 years ago

      It should be, but it appears to be a bug.

    • return2ozma@lemmy.worldOP
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      2 years ago

      https://lemmy.world/comment/13350847

      • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        Bug has been promoted to feature

    • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
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      deleted by creator

    • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works
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      2 years ago

      Just use a pattern to lock your phone. Police can’t do shit if you have that set up.

      • BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        It’s not the lock, it’s the fact that phones are usually encrypted after a reboot (to oversimplify). As the article says you have extra security measures to protect a freshly booted phone.

  • IDKWhatUsernametoPutHereLolol@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    • cy_narrator@discuss.tchncs.de
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      2 years ago

      Nice, I think making your phone go into Before First Unlock mode cannot be considered destruction of evidence

      • IDKWhatUsernametoPutHereLolol@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        • prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works
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          2 years ago

          Cellebrite struggles with iPhones already, this reboot is part of the cat and mouse game they’re playing

          • IDKWhatUsernametoPutHereLolol@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            • prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works
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              I’ve used cellebrite before.

              Anecdote of 1 for you, iOS is a pain in the ass.

              • IDKWhatUsernametoPutHereLolol@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                • prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works
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                  2 years ago

                  Yes, I am well aware.

                  shipping a phone to them or waiting for the tech to arrive, that transit time, is what my mind went to immediately when this feature was introduced.

                  The phones are significantly more difficult to get into after the reboot.

                  I’m disclosing absolutely nothing.

        • jagged_circle@feddit.nl
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          Cellebrite? I don’t think that’s how encryption works

          • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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            It might work that way, actually .

            Just because the phone is encrypted doesn’t mean there’s not an exploit that makes it easier to bypass or extract the passphrase. Celebrite is unfortunately pretty good at attacking out of support phone and breaking into them.

            Use a modern, supported OS on a device put out by a trusted vendor and you’re probably ok. But old software/hardware makes it much easier to bypass.

    • jagged_circle@feddit.nl
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      Thanks but I literally cannot figure out how to use these apps after installing

      • IDKWhatUsernametoPutHereLolol@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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  • Rukthag@lemmy.world
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    Note to those wishing for such a function, it’s possible by creating an iOS Shortcut - New Shortcut > Shutdown > Change it to ‘Restart’.

    From there, you create an automation in Shortcuts to run based on time, location, etc.

    • whithom@discuss.onlineBanned
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      Alas, it asks if you want to restart.

  • metaStatic@kbin.earth
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    this is the police we’re talking about, they probably just forgot to charge them and are trying to shift the blame

  • paridoxical@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    Hot take: this is actually a bug not a feature.

  • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    Someone said it in another thread yesterday, baseband memory leak. The firmware for that shit is terrible, I’ve had to deal with it in the past.

  • umami_wasabi@lemmy.ml
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    2 years ago

    “new security feature” “warning”

    🙂

  • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
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    deleted by creator

  • humanspiral@lemmy.ca
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    Speculation is that ios 18 is communicating with other phones while locked to determine security. This can more likely be a NSA/US empire backdoor than a user protection feature. Lowly police systems are just not on the “hacker list”. One way the backdoor could work is that if a “NSA/Mossad list phone” is present, protect the other phones, unless the phones are in an NSA/Mossad secure facility.

    • prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works
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      Or it could just be using the inactivity reboot feature that was recently added to iOS.

      • humanspiral@lemmy.ca
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        ok. I’d suspect spy agency back doors if the feature was unannounced. If it was an announced feature, then that is reasonable explanation.

        • prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works
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          It’s literally a documented feature AND it’s weird super secret spy agency shit is the easiest answer for you tbh.

          • humanspiral@lemmy.ca
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            I thanked you for explanation. OP did not suggest that as an explanation.

            • prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works
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              You did though. Lmao

  • [deleted]@lemmy.world
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    The police could just ask Apple, it isn’t like they are going to have some secret reboot process that they would hide from the police.

    • bamboo@lemm.ee
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      And what would Apple be able to do about it? They don’t have your password*, so they’ll be just as unable to decrypt the device as the police.

      *you can give them your password via iCloud I believe but you don’t have to

      • [deleted]@lemmy.world
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        I’m not saying apple will do anything about it, just that they will let the cops know what is causing the reboots if asked.

  • Pacattack57@lemmy.world
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    Phones that are repeatedly attempted to be unlocked auto hard reset. Been a feature for years.

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