On Thursday 404 Media reported that police were freaking out about mysteriously rebooting iPhones. Now multiple experts have found that Apple introduced code that reboots locked phones after a period of time.

Apple quietly introduced code into iOS 18.1 which reboots the device if it has not been unlocked for a period of time, reverting it to a state which improves the security of iPhones overall and is making it harder for police to break into the devices, according to multiple iPhone security experts.

On Thursday, 404 Media reported that law enforcement officials were freaking out that iPhones which had been stored for examination were mysteriously rebooting themselves. At the time the cause was unclear, with the officials only able to speculate why they were being locked out of the devices. Now a day later, the potential reason why is coming into view.

“Apple indeed added a feature called ‘inactivity reboot’ in iOS 18.1.,” Dr.-Ing. Jiska Classen, a research group leader at the Hasso Plattner Institute, tweeted after 404 Media published on Thursday along with screenshots that they presented as the relevant pieces of code.

  • @phoneymouseEnglish
    26•4 days ago

    I don’t know how Cellebrite is a legally operating company. Their entire business model is a violation of the computer fraud and abuse act.

    • Andromxda 🇺🇦🇵🇸🇹🇼English
      7•2 days ago

      Cellebrite is developed in Israel, a country that legally shouldn’t even exist, and is known for genocide, crime, espionage, manipulation and propaganda, more war crimes, illegal settlements, using their intelligence agency to assassinate political opponents abroad, etc.

      The so-called “only democracy in the middle east”

    • @[email protected]English
      0•4 days ago

      When the government does it, it’s not illegal.

      I’m sure the CFAA has an explicit exception for law enforcement anyway. Laws always do.

      • @phoneymouseEnglish
        1•2 days ago

        Cellebrite themselves do it. The will unlock phones as a service.