Apple Officially Closes 'Loophole' Cops Used To Suck Your iPhone Data

Apple is keen on making users its priority, and therefore after banning cryptocurrency mining apps and stopping developers from selling users’ contacts to third parties, Apple has yet again taken a major step towards maintaining high privacy standards for users on their platform.

Apple has officially banned law enforcement bodies from cracking iPhones and accessing data stored on it by closing a technical loophole which has been exploited over the years by cops.

The new security feature will disable the lightning port if an iPhone has not been unlocked for one hour. This lightning port which is used for charging and for syncing data would become useless. To access and sync data, Passcode, TouchID, FaceID or PIN would be required.

However, users will be able to charge their device by plugging in the charger in the port.

Law enforcement agencies have long used this small loophole for accessing the personal data of users by using ‘cracking’ software such as GrayKey Box which uses the data connection of the device to brute force a passcode giving complete access of the device to officials.

The new safety feature was first introduced in the iOS 11.4 Beta but was absent from the stable version. Now the feature has been included in the iOS 12 developer beta and it is expected that the feature will be released in the stable version as well when it arrives in the fall this year.

This harsh step by Apple will garner resentment from cops and government agencies. Apple has justified its action by releasing a statement that says that the company has fixed the loophole not only to prevent government bodies from accessing users’ data but also because the loophole is popular amongst thieves and criminals.

Fred Sainz, Apple’s spokesperson also added: “We have the greatest respect for law enforcement, and we don’t design our security improvements to frustrate their efforts to do their jobs.”