Apple seems to have completely blocked the password hacking tool of the font in iOS 12

Earlier this year, Apple updated iOS to block code cracking tools like GrayKey (used by police and law enforcement officials). But the original iOS 11.4.1 fix was not perfect, as searchers still find ways around it. This seems to have changed with the release of iOS 12 last month, that a recent Forbes Report notes seem to have completely blocked the GrayKey tool, thus preventing it from decrypting the password of any device running the latest software.

GrayKey was the first to launch a wave earlier this year as a tool specifically developed and sold to police departments to crack passwords on iPhones for investigation purposes. But now, instead of forcing passwords, GrayKey is apparently limited to a "partial extraction," providing only access to unencrypted metadata, such as file size. Forbes does not indicate if the patch is something that Apple has recently done, or if the improved block is in place since the release of iOS 12 in mid-September, but for now at least, it seems that GrayKey has been arrested.

We do not know what Apple did to lock GrayKey this time. A forensic expert speculated for Forbes it could be anything from better kernel protection to stricter restrictions on installing configuration profiles, but nobody seems to know it. However, according to Captain John Sherwin (police officer of the Rochester Police Department in Minnesota), it is "a fairly accurate assessment" to say that Apple has prevented GrayKey from unlocking up-to-date devices.

Whatever Apple has done to block GrayKey here, however, it is likely that Grayshift – the company that is developing GrayKey – is already looking for a workaround to continue bypassing Apple's password systems.