After iOS 9 and its trusted security system, people were definitely expecting an improvement in the next update. Apple, however, lost the track somewhere in between and iOS 10 came as a huge disappointment, in terms of its privacy and security for the users. The flaw is found in the method that protected local backup files. That method was weakened in a way that a lot of security checks were excluded from it, thus making it easy for external parties to crack the password.
A researcher from Elcomsoft, a Russian firm that creates password cracking tools, said that this new security check in iOS 10 is 2500 times weaker compared to the previous operating system. This simply means that it will be much easier for people to get access to an iOS backup. The iOS backup is extremely confidential because it carries all the important information relating keychain numbers and phone numbers etc. With this iOS change, Elcomsoft will have 90 percent increased chances of cracking the password and eventually getting into the iPhone. The difference is such that in iOS 9 Elcomsoft was able to generate 2400 passwords per second while in iOS 10 it can run 6 million passwords per second, which gives an idea of the weak situation.
According to Forbes magazine, it seems to be that Apple is familiar with the issue and is trying their best to fix it. An Apple spokesperson said that they were aware of the problem and would rectify it in the coming update to iOS 10. Apple also said that the security flaw doesn’t affect iCloud backups. Also, they advised people to make sure that their computers are fully protected with strong passwords until Apple fixes the situation.
Some people started questioning Apple’s intention behind doing this. Many were of the view that this was not entirely an accident and was done on purpose. However, Apple would obviously not risk their clientele over such a stupid error intentionally.
Paklap.pk is not sure when exactly the next update will arrive in the market but one thing is for sure that it will come soon, since the issue has gotten everyone’s attention and would bring bad image if not dealt fast enough.
