Cellebrite claims it can unlock any iPhone

Cellbrite's claims could be a massive breakthrough for law enforcement officials

A US Government contractor has allegedly come up with a way to unlock every single iPhone, a breakthrough moment for lawmakers.

According to a report from Forbes, Israeli technology firm Cellebrite claims that it can help prosecutors get into any smartphone on the market - including Apple's last iPhones.

The company, which is headquartered in the city of Petah Tikva, made headlines in 2016 when it was contracted by the FBI to assist it in cases. It managed to help officers get into a locked iPhone.

Now, the firm claims to have found a method to bypass any Apple device running on iOS 11. Sources told Forbes that the company worked with the Department of Homeland Security in November 2017 to get into an iPhone X.

Although the company has not boasted about these claims publicly, a source close to the firm alleges that it can hack into virtually any iPhone model.

It is thought that the tech contractor is advertising these capabilities to law enforcement agencies.

Some of its existing marketing material claims that the firm can crack "Apple iOS devices and operating systems, including iPhone, iPad, iPad mini, iPad Pro and iPod touch, running iOS 5 to iOS 11".

This particular source, who has chosen to remain unnamed, contacted Forbes when Cellebrite told him it could unlock his iPhone 8.

He did not approach the company about the iPhone X, but the handset uses the same security software as the 8. So it is highly likely that the firm would be able to get into the handset as well.

But last year, the Cellebrite admitted that it is becoming increasingly harder for it to unlock handsets, despite its recent claims.

Last year, Cyberscoop managed to get access to a presentation where Cellebrite technology director Dan Embury spoke about these concerns.

"The trend over the last few years is it's getting much too easy for device manufacturers to implement very secure encryption and lock mechanisms without impacting the device performance," he said.

"In the past the phone would run really slow [or] the battery wouldn't be as long lasting, but now with modern processors, large amounts of RAM and flash memory as well running a lot quicker, it's very straightforward for the strongest military-grade encryption to be put into devices used by the general consumer base out there.

"It's as simple as a four-digit password that could thwart investigative efforts trying to gain access to valuable evidence on a device."