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Israeli Firm Says It Can Crack Any Locked Smartphone


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For the last few months, Israeli spy firms have been making some strange claims such as Ability says that their “Unlimited Interception System” can trace calls, texts and location of every single mobile phone on the planet earth whilst another firm known as Wintego claims to have developed an app with “Unprecedented Capability” to steal encrypted communications of any WhatsApp account.

 

Now, one of the world’s leading hacking firms Cellebrite that is famous for extracting data from any cell phone within seconds but it is surprising that the company can even extract information from a locked smartphone.

 

This firm already has customers in over 115 countries and in terms of hacking technologies, Cellebrite is world’s best. A majority of its clients are from the governments. A top official from the company, Leeor Ben-Peretz stated that:

 

List of Cellebrite's customers. Source: Cellebrite

 

In fact, it is the same firm that was contacted by the FBI when the agency was trying to unlock the iPhone of San Bernardino shooter but, Cellebrite has denied any involvement in the case.

 

The revelation from Cellebrite regarding information retrieval from locked phones has raised eyebrows of privacy activists and security researchers alike.

 

According to AFP, Cellebrite can access a variety of data from cell phones including text messages content, retrieving complete messages that were deleted years ago and accurate details about the user’s whereabouts at any given time frame. However, the technology can only work if the phone is physically connected to any of the firm’s devices. A plus point is that online hacking cannot be carried out using this technology.

 

On the other hand, civil rights activists and privacy advocates are alarmed because this is a powerful technology and if it lands into the hands of people with malicious or wrong intentions then it can cause serious privacy issues.

 

The firm also demonstrated how the technology worked. They managed to extract photos with accurate location and time from an LG G4 smartphone that ran on Android.

 

However, Ben-Peretz believes that their real challenge is to stay ahead in the competition with their technology since every other week there is a new model of the cellphone being launched with updated OS and highly complex security. The company’s research lab has cracked 15,000 phone models so far and around 15 to 200 new models are added every month that also includes the newest iPhones.

 

The company has a dedicated research team comprising of 250 members; the team starts finding a way to crack the device every time a new mobile phone is launched. The process usually takes a few days but may even become lengthier and involve months of research.

 


https://www.hackread.com/israeli-firm-cracks-any-locked-smartphone/

 

 

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I have said it many times before, but any security or programming that was developed by man can be circumvented by man.  There is more than one way to get data from a locked phone.  Apple wanted to play stupid and say they couldn't unlock the iphone when everyone else can.  Personally I think the government ought to go ahead with the bill they have waiting in the wings that makes any device that can't be decrypted by law enforcement illegal and ownership of such being on par with  a felon in possession of a gun as far as sentencing goes.  A person's life is worth more than having your text and conversations encrypted and locked in a piece of electronics.

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1 hour ago, straycat19 said:

There is more than one way to get data from a locked phone.  Apple wanted to play stupid and say they couldn't unlock the iphone

I dont like Apple because they are 2 faced  because they played the were out to protect you're privacy card when the never been in the privacy protecting business.  They did not got rich because they protect you're privacy  they got rich because they made smart phones  and other products people liked . They help law enforcement all the time just ask the guy who ran KAT that is sitting in jail how much apple protect you're privacy.  they grassed him out.   The whole thing was it was not in apple's best interest  when the FBI  pulled them out in the spotlight to unlock that phone ..It would of been bad for there business if they were seen helping  law enforcement in public, but they do it all the time behind closed doors .

 

But the FBI acted like a bunch of  idiots too .. They wanted some company to backdoor there own product  and turned around and payed researchers  over a million dollars. once they seen apple wouldn't do it to unlock that phone, that  probably didn't have anything valuable on it . A million dollars worth of the USA taxpayers money up in smoke. . Because Apple will just fix it in a update . Also it made the FBI look weak if some company have the money to fight them they just give up and buy a hacker to do it :P

 

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