Cops Suspect iOS 18 iPhones Are Communicating to Force a Restart, Making Unlocking Difficult

Law enforcement officials in Detroit, Michigan are warning other officers about an alleged incident iPhone Change that causes Apple devices stored for forensic examination to automatically reboot, according to reports 404 Media.

The iPhones under review apparently reboot, making them harder to unlock with brute force methods, and Michigan police think this is due to a security feature Apple added. iOS 18. A document found by 404 Media It speculates that iPhones running “iOS 18” cause other iPhones to reboot when disconnected from the cellular network.

The purpose of this notice is to spread awareness of an issue with iPhones that causes iPhone devices to reboot within a short period of time (observations are likely within 24 hours) when disconnected from the cellular network. If iPhone is in After First Unlock (AFU) state, after a restart, the device will return to Before First Unlock (BFU). This can be very detrimental for obtaining digital evidence from devices that are not supported in any case other than AFU.

It is thought that iPhone devices with iOS 18.0 brought to the laboratory communicate with other iPhone devices operated in the chassis at the AFU, if conditions are suitable. This communication sent a signal to devices to reboot after much time had passed since device activity or being out of the network.

After First Unlock or AFU refers to the device state where the owner unlocks their device with a passcode or password. Face ID at least once since it opened. With ‌iPhone‌ unlocking tools from companies like Cellebrite, it’s easier for law enforcement to break into a device in AFU mode. Apparently rebooting makes it even harder.

The digital forensics lab that noticed the problem had many iPhones rebooted in AFU state, including iPhones in Airplane mode and iPhones in Faraday box. Since a faraday box blocks all electronic signals from reaching a device, an “iPhone” running “iOS 18” will have no way to communicate with an “iPhone” inside a functional faraday box.

The police document speculates that this is “an iOS 18.0 security feature add-on” because a device running ‌iOS 18‌ also rebooted after a period of isolation and inactivity. But several other devices in the same region did not reboot, and there is no evidence that Apple added a feature that causes older iPhones to reboot when contacted by an ‌iPhone‌ running ‌iOS 18‌.

Law enforcement officials recommend that ‌iOS 18‌ devices be isolated from other iPhones in AFU status as further testing is conducted.

The specific conditions that must be present for these reboots to occur are unknown, and further testing and research is needed to add more detail to the new obstacle we are now facing. What is known is that this new “feature” increases the difficulty in forensically preserving digital evidence.

Cryptographer and Johns Hopkins professor Matthew Green said: 404 Media He said law enforcement officials’ hypothesis about “iOS 18” devices was “highly questionable,” but he was impressed by the concept.

“The idea of ​​phones periodically rebooting without a network for a long period of time is absolutely fantastic, and I’m surprised Apple actually did this on purpose,” he said.

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