Apple iOS 10 security flaws exposed; iOS 10 jailbreak taking time due to kernel modification issues

Elcomsoft, an independent digital forensics company, has stated that the iOS 10 security feature is easier to exploit than its predecessor. Therefore, Apple fans are expecting an iOS 10 jailbreak soon. Elcomsoft’s digital forensics specialists have been able to bypass some security checks on iOS 10.

As per The Bitbag, the new level of authentication in iOS 10 that work simultaneously with the older authentication version makes the OS run faster than the old one. However, this has made the new operating system prone to exploits as it bypasses some security checks.

As per Elcomsoft, its team was able to input about six million passwords per second with their smartphone breaker software. It’s 2,500 times faster than the previous iOS 9. However, the team was able to input only 2,400 passwords per second on iOS 9.

Even though the hack can be implemented only on the local iTunes backup, it could become a severe security risk for users as hackers may get access to all backup data including personal details, bank information and also a user’s Keychain Access that contains usernames and passwords for websites that a user commonly visits.

Apple has reportedly acknowledged the report by Elcomsoft and has even released a statement stating that it will address the issue on its next update. Meantime, users can use strong passwords to keep their systems protected. Mac users will get additional security from Sierra via FileVault for its data-encryption feature.

According to iDigitalTimes, iOS 10 jailbreak developers are still at the research stage and jailbeaker Jay Freeman said that it is difficult to modify the kernel due to a memory protection scheme that kills the device if it is compromised.

“The changes to memory protection in the iPhone 7 make it so that regions of kernel memory are now ‘totally unwritable at the hardware level,’” said Freeman.