Police Steal Criminal’s iPhone and Keep Swiping Through Screens to Avoid Locking

[Exterminator]

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and the UK Metropolitan Police knows it best, as the officers had to get around the encryption system on an iPhone in a pretty unique way: by stealing the phone while it was in use and then keeping swiping through screens to avoid locking.

Specifically, the BBC reports that the UK police wanted to avoid a case similar to FBI’s when Apple refused to help unlock an iPhone used by a terrorist and proposed a plan that had the phone used by a suspect getting stolen while he was using it. Literally.

And that’s exactly what police officers did. They tracked down the suspect, waited for him to start a phone call and then mugged him in the middle of the street. Another officer was in charge of preventing the iPhone from getting locked, so he had to keep swiping through screens and maintaining the device active until investigators managed to extract all data.

Cellebrite would have helped
According to the source, the iPhone could play an essential role in an investigation of a crime ring that would involve using fake credit cards to purchase expensive goods which were then sold in the United Kingdom for cash.

Police officers believed that information that could help them during the investigation could be available on the iPhone, especially because the owner was known as a very cautious person that was keeping the iPhone locked all the time and he was using a passcode to protect data.

With Apple is not at all interested in working with authorities on unlocking iPhones, the Met police had just one option (actually, there were two options, this and contacting Cellebrite for brute-forcing into the iPhone) to extract the available information.

It goes without saying that Apple hasn’t commented on this case, but there’s no doubt that Cupertino wouldn’t be willing to discuss a case involving a password-protected iPhone.

 

[Wave]

Very clever

 

[Tony Cole]

If you have fingerprint unlock enabled laws in the UK and USA can make you unlock the device - when I was in the Police we could forcefully obtain DNA and fingerprint samples. But they cannot make you unlock with the pin.

 

[antreas]

What if he lock other data? i mean there apps to lock picture and apps and ask for password or code to open.

 

[Wave]

What if he lock other data? i mean there apps to lock picture and apps and ask for password or code to open.

They can also have Anti-Theft to have a friend working with them to remotely wipe the phone or re-lock it, assuming the device is still connected via either a 3G/4G network or GPS network. As for agencies like GCHQ, I believe they can craft special text messages and send them to your phone which you won't be aware of, but are capable of accessing data or remotely controlling your phone (apparently, I do not know if this is really true or not).

If the criminal has other apps to lock the data and they are already past the lock-screen somehow, then they can attempt to brute-force through (assuming there isn't a max limit before auto-wipe/auto-lockout), or they can attempt to bypass the app (e.g. tamper/remove it without triggering any extra protections). As long as they can crack past that lock screen they can do so much...

 

[Tony Cole]

Just turn on airplane mode and then no texts or Find iPhone will do nothing. That's why you disable control centre - access on lock screen. I have all restrictions (parental controls) enabled to block locations, accounts etc.,