It Seems Like Apple iOS 12 Completely Blocks Password Cracking Tools Like GrayKey

On July 2018, Apple already blocked password cracking tools of the police like GrayKey which is used by the police as well as other law enforcement officers by updating its iOS.

However, the iOS 11.4.1 update was not enough to patch the security holes as people could still find ways to crack passcode of Apple's iPhone. But it seems like Apple finally manages to change that with its recently released iOS 12.

According to a recent report of Forbes, the GrayKey is finally and completely blocked by Apple, preventing anyone from using it to crack the passcode of any iPhone that has the most up-to-date software.

No one can confirm how Apple has done to completely block GrayKey

GrayKey caught a lot of attention earlier in the year as a cracking tool that is specifically designed and sold to the police to bypass iPhones’ passcode system for investigative purposes.

But after Apple releasing iOS 12, GrayKey is now only limited to just a “partial extraction” instead of forcing passwords like before. That means it can now only access to some unencrypted metadata like file sizes.

However, Forbes is not sure whether Apple has done that in the recent patch or it has come with iOS 12 since its first release in September. But at least we know for sure that Apple has shut down passcode cracking tools.

It is also not clear how Apple managed to block GrayKey. But according to a police officer named John Sherwin (Captain in Minnesota’s Rochester Police Department), it is pretty accurate to say that Apple has managed to prevent GrayKey from cracking its devices with iOS 12.

Well, Grayshift - GrayKey developer is probably not going to stop no matter how did Apple block its tool. They may find a way to 'work around' and, just like a cycle, Apple will find a way to fix and strengthen its defense.