Lockdown Mode is a sometimes overlooked feature of Apple devices that broadly make them harder to hack. A court record indicates the feature might be effective at stopping third parties unlocking someone's device. At least for now.

The FBI has been unable to access a Washington Post reporter’s seized iPhone because it was in Lockdown Mode, a sometimes overlooked feature that makes iPhones broadly more secure, according to recently filed court records.

The court record shows what devices and data the FBI was able to ultimately access, and which devices it could not, after raiding the home of the reporter, Hannah Natanson, in January as part of an investigation into leaks of classified information. It also provides rare insight into the apparent effectiveness of Lockdown Mode, or at least how effective it might be before the FBI may try other techniques to access the device.

“Because the iPhone was in Lockdown mode, CART could not extract that device,” the court record reads, referring to the FBI’s Computer Analysis Response Team, a unit focused on performing forensic analyses of seized devices. The document is written by the government, and is opposing the return of Natanson’s devices.

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  • extremeboredom@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    2 hours ago

    Using RCS is not worth dealing with a spyware phone in my estimation. And any conversations over SMS can be considered compromised by default. So I do not discuss sensitive or private information over SMS. This leaves one with a device that the Gestapo as of yet has not contrived a way to invade. The existence of any such device horrifies tyrants. They must see all and know all, and we are to trust in their benevolence to Keep Us Safe!™