Russian Experts Have Managed To Break Backup Encryption
by Joe White
May 24, 2011
ElcomSoft - a team of Russian forensic experts - has released a piece of software that has the ability to decrypt iOS backups. ElcomSoft Phone Password Breaker is currently available to download for $79 from the company's website.
Apple's original iPhones were heavily criticized for their lack of encryption. However, following this, Apple added a hardware-based encryption chip to the iPhone 3GS and 256-bit data encryption in iOS 4 (as you can see in the screenshot above). Furthermore, users have the option of encrypting their backups in iTunes, too.
However, if you happen to forget the password set for encrypted backups, things could get sticky. Fortunately, for $79, ElcomSoft has you covered.
The company's Password Breaker program can decrypt encrypted backups, providing users have the appropriate iOS device. (If you're trying to decrypt your iPhone 4 backups, you'll need to connect your iPhone 4 to the computer when running Password Breaker). As explained by ElcomSoft's Vladimir Katalov:
Decryption is not possible without having access to the actual device because we need to obtain the encryption keys that are stored in (or computed by) the device and are not dumped or stored during typical physical acquisition.For more information on the software, head over to ElcomSoft's website. And let us know your thoughts in the comments. [via Bright Side Of News]