Information from the Detroit Police Department’s report in Michigan raises concerns regarding iPhones used as evidence in cases. They revealed that iPhones have the capability to self-reboot if left untouched for a period while not connected to a phone network.
This poses a significant challenge for law enforcement officers as they need special tools to unlock iPhones, especially when the device is in a Before First Unlock (BFU) state after a reboot, making evidence extraction more difficult.
Detroit Police Department’s report aims to alert other police departments about this issue, highlighting the challenges faced when dealing with iPhones in investigative procedures.
The cause of iPhones self-rebooting remains unknown, but speculation suggests a potential feature in iOS 18.0 or later versions, particularly when the phone is in Airplane mode or signal-cutting containers, triggering the self-reboot.
Before delving deeper into speculation, two possible scenarios are considered:
1. A bug causing self-reboot in iPhone 16 Pro running iOS 18.0, which was subsequently addressed in iOS 18.1.
2. The introduction of AppleSEPKeyStore extension in iOS 18.1, utilized during device unlock and self-reboot when the device remains locked and unused for a period. (Source: jiska on Mastodon-chaos.social)
Apple has yet to comment on this matter.
(Source: Gizmodo and 9to5Mac)
TLDR: Detroit PD report flags iPhone self-rebooting issue, posing challenges in evidence extraction for law enforcement. Possible bug in iOS 18.0 addressed in iOS 18.1, introducing AppleSEPKeyStore extension for device unlock and self-reboot. Apple’s response awaited.
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