Encryption is No Guarantee

 

The most common technique used by everyone be secure is through “encryption.” Most people use passwords protect their devices this way.

Computers and cell phones use encryption to prevent unwanted persons from accessing your data.   Until recently, many experts believed the most secure cell phone available was the iPhone.  Last year, the media was reporting that even the FBI was unable to break into a suspected terrorist’s phone because it was encrypted.

Now we learn that a new technique or tool has become available to law enforcement which allows them to access any recent iPhone even if encrypted.  It’s called Graykey.  Here’s a link to a website describing the product.

Graykey

What this means is that last year when you bought the most secure cell phone, it has now been rendered the least secure cell phone with the advent of Graykey.  This devices appears to allow the police to access almost any iPhone even if it is password protected.

The lesson is that technology is always evolving and what seems secure today, may be rendered insecure tomorrow.  If you have data that is encrypted and it falls into the hands of someone else, be aware that at some point in the future technology may allow them to break into it.

There are many iPhones sitting in police evidence lockers today that the police were not able to look at because the data was encrypted.  With new technology, these devices can now be accessed.