The Apple iPhone is considered to be the most secure smartphone device. It is very difficult to get into any iPhone as it requires a high level of hacking technology to crack the sophisticated encryption system of iOS. The iOS 8 has brought almost impenetrable access with a password in starts from iPhone 6 which has launched back in 2014.
Although FBI tried to crack the iPhone device with the help of an unidentified group of hackers, a private company Cellebrite also owns a hacking tech which could hack any password-protected Apple mobiles. Cellebrite is an Israeli security firm and the sole company to have the knowhow of hacking iPhone and other smartphones. And now, as per trustworthy sources, the Forensics Science Laboratory in India has been negotiating with Cellebrite to make a purchase for the same tool.
Citing the sources, TheEconomicsTimes has recently reported the tech-deal. The supposed tech is expected to have in India as the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) is presently in final negotiation for the acquisition of the tech. The deal is likely to get reached very soon.
A senior FSL official has said that the authority is likely to get the technology within a month or so. And, India will act as a global hub for cases where law enforcement is incapable of getting into phones.
The interesting part of the deal is that India will not only use this technology for itself, but it will also offer the service for other forensic institutes in the region for a fee. Becoming a global hub for decrypting phones could thus mean that India might plan for the go-to place for hacking the password-protected devices in another state for the assistance.
The FSL has already worked with Cellebrite on a few cases in the past and now the government authority is obtaining the entire tool. The FSL official also stated that the possibility of getting into an iPhone running iOS 8 or above is impractical. Only the hacking tool by Cellebrite could make this possible. And the acquisition of this tool will surely open up many new opportunities.
The security of iOS is trustworthy enough, but the recently launched iOS 10 had reported with massive security flaws right after its release. Apple released the iOS 10 in September this year after the launch of its iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus which had reported with security flaws by a digital forensics company, Elcomsoft. The company had acknowledged the issue and said that it will release a fix on this issue, very soon.