New iPhone unlocker reportedly makes quick work of pins


Motherboard:

Cops all over the United States are racing to buy a new and relatively cheap technology called GrayKey to unlock iPhones. GrayShift, the company that develops it, promises to crack any iPhone, regardless of the passcode that’s on it. GrayKey is able to unlock some iPhones in two hours, or three days for phones with six digit passcodes, according to an anonymous source who provided security firm Malwarebytes with pictures of the cracking device and some information about how it works.

Complex passwords are the way to go. Even if you use six digits, it makes it harder to crack because the number of characters are unknown. Since you have to rarely use them, Face ID and Touch ID make it much more practical to use stronger unlock passwords, so it's a good idea to leverage those features. Of course, if you're worried about law enforcement the best advice is to not have anything incriminating on your device in the first place. Even with the best passwords, courts can compel people to unlock their own devices and there's no telling what advanced exploits and vulnerabilities are out there at any given time. The point is to better secure your data against common criminals who may gain access to these tools.