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Apple Quietly Introduced iPhone Reboot Code Which is Locking Out Cops (www.404media.co)

submitted 6 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

264 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Apple quietly introduced code into iOS 18.1 which reboots the device if it has not been unlocked for a period of time, reverting it to a state which improves the security of iPhones overall and is making it harder for police to break into the devices, according to multiple iPhone security experts.

On Thursday, 404 Media reported that law enforcement officials were freaking out that iPhones which had been stored for examination were mysteriously rebooting themselves. At the time the cause was unclear, with the officials only able to speculate why they were being locked out of the devices. Now a day later, the potential reason why is coming into view.

“Apple indeed added a feature called ‘inactivity reboot’ in iOS 18.1.,” Dr.-Ing. Jiska Classen, a research group leader at the Hasso Plattner Institute, tweeted after 404 Media published on Thursday along with screenshots that they presented as the relevant pieces of code.

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[–] [email protected] 50 points 5 days ago (7 children)

The way this article is framed sounds like bullshit to me. 18.1 was released less than 2 weeks ago. Any phone running this version of iOS would have had to already been in custody and somehow upgraded to this version, or otherwise brought into custody very recently—too recently for this to have already posed such a problem that law enforcement is “freaking out” and reporting it to the media.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 5 days ago (3 children)

Don't they auto update the OS when connected to a charger? But even then, that would have triggered a reboot already.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 days ago (2 children)

This is the easiest thing for people with money, and motivation to avoid happening.

Remove the sim card if it's an older device, use a Faraday cage (your microwave is one) or a jammer. If you are the government you can also tell the telecom to block the phone from connecting

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Police may be leaving phones online in case it continues receiving relevant evidence (texts, emails, etc).

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 days ago

I think you're seriously overestimating the technical prowess of the average law enforcement officer...

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