This looks like old news to me. Years ago I’ve read that three letter agencies can access phones without getting the access code or bio-metrics from the phone owner.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grayshift
- And it was in the news recently because of the Trump shooter : https://www.theverge.com/24199357/fbi-trump-rally-shooter-phone-thomas-matthew-crooks-quantico-mdtf
- https://signal.org/blog/cellebrite-vulnerabilities (2021, crazy story)
I doubt it. That info is first party and not to be trusted since it is obviously marketing. Any third party article that backs up their claims?
Isn’t it an open secret that powerful entities (like spying institutions) can get into pretty much every system if they have physical access? Why is this not plausible
Because they would have to possess technology that doesn’t exist in order to circumvent actual encryption without a key.
If I adequately encrypt my own data, and keep the keys a secret, I could hand my hard drive off to Microsoft and they could spend billions running all their AI clusters trying to crack it, and it would be a futile endeavor.
If the government had the technology to bypass encryption or quickly and inexpensively crack it, they’d use it for a whole lot more than unlocking smartphones. They could basically control the flow of Bitcoin on a whim with such tech.
I am aware that there are secure encryptions, but android isn’t hardware encrypted isn’t it? Haven’t used google android for a while, but no encryption was one of the reasons I moved away from it.
No idea about apple, but longer startup times for storage encryption doesn’t seem like a very apple thing to do
Also phones are so seldom turned off, and if the system is running storage encryption becomes less of a concern as the key is somewhere in the ram
For a few years now Android has been encrypting storage. Not the SD card, and maybe not even the internal storage (which on android land means your files that you can access with a file manager without root) but I’m not sure about that part. The app’s main data is surely encrypted though, when the security menu in the settings says so.
But, there’s a loophole. Or two.
The parent commenter said, actual encryption can’t be broken without keys.
First, the keys are in the black box TPM of the phone.
Second, how do you verify that the phone uses an effective and unmodified encryption algorithm, and also that keys are never leaked anywhere?
And now consider that popular brands have been bundling malware for years, some of which cannot really be uninstalled either.Yeah TPM chip encryption is mostly not secure (at least not by simply existing, as an encryption with with a strong password that only exists in your head is) I’ve seen a german youtuber crack the bitlocker TPM encryption of a windows think pad, I have no doubt big companies can do this for the 3-4 most used TPM chips in android phones
And if you got the device and can damage it, even if you couldn’t crack the chip, putting the silicia under an electron microscope is always an option (lots of actual manhours of actual experts needed, but you could charge the client heavily to compensate)
No. The TPM was not cracked. The communication was sniffed, which is unencrypted. This requires a Device to be modified and then successfully unlocked to get exploited also this does not affect devices where the tpm is integrated in the SoC.
No. You watch too many Movies. Yes there were attempts from state sponsored actors to weaken encryption algorithms. But is encryption easy to crack? No.
Dude what encryption are you talking about? Hardware storage encryption is just by now getting more widely adapted, the phone I used till a year ago didn’t even support any encryption.
Sure, aes-256 with secure password only stored in your mind is quasi 100℅ safe, but that is not how most devices handle their “encryption”.
If the key for the encryption is on the device, and either stored in an unencrypted TPM or unencrypted storage, its not a matter if breaking the encryption (quite impossible) but breaking the software/hardware (quite possible for someone with good enough forensics and skilled programmers)
Also also: encryption only helps if the device is off, which is seldom the case with phones.
Isn’t it an open secret that powerful entities (like spying institutions) can get into pretty much every system if they have physical access? Why is this not plausible
You stated in your original comment: “pretty much every system”. So no, any modern phone if android or iOS is by default encrypted.
If the key for the encryption is on the device, and either stored in an unencrypted TPM or unencrypted storage, its not a matter if breaking the encryption (quite impossible) but breaking the software/hardware (quite possible for someone with good enough forensics and skilled programmers)
TPMs are by design encrypted.
Keys are not stored unencrypted at least not when you encrypt your storage with modern solutions and set it up reasonably. You use either your TPM to store the key or store it on the drive and have it encrypted by itself or use a KDF.
Also also: encryption only helps if the device is off, which is seldom the case with phones.
No this assumption is wrong. You still would need to circumvent the Login into the device which is mostly secured by a pin or password or biometrics.
If you think TPMs are always encrypted, a key can be encrypted “with itself” and still be any use to you and android system pin is secure you are right. Might also believe in santa
If you think TPMs are always encrypted, a key can be encrypted “with itself” and still be any use to you and android system pin is secure you are right. Might also believe in santa
Not sure what you are rambling about the TPM.
Then prove that the Lockscreen is insecure.
How do you think encryption works?
What do you think does a lockscreen?
