According to an article on Motherboard (June 4, 2018) an upcoming security feature for the Apple iPhone will keep it from being exploited if it is seized by government agents.
Apple’s new security feature, USB Restricted Mode, is in the iOS 12 Beta, and it could kill the popular iPhone unlocking tools for cops made by Cellebrite and GrayShift.
On Monday, at its Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced features of iOS 12. One very important security feature is called USB Restricted Mode. The feature essentially forces users to unlock the iPhone with the passcode when connecting it to a USB accessory every time the phone has not been unlocked for one hour. That includes the iPhone unlocking devices that companies such as Cellebrite or GrayShift make, which police departments all over the world use to hack into seized iPhones.
That pretty much kills GrayShift and Cellebrite. If it doesn't let ANY type of data connection happen until it's unlocked, then you can’t exploit the device because you can't communicate with it.
The last two iOS beta releases, 11.4.1 beta and 12 beta, have USB Restricted mode on by default. The feature is included in the Touch ID, Face ID and Passcode settings. Despite being in some of the betas, the feature did not make it to 11.3 nor 11.4, the latest public release of iOS.
I look forward to USB Restricted Mode being included in all public releases of iOS. It is an important security feature needed by the community.
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