Apple always advertises their iPhone as the most secure and privacy-centric device in the market. They say that “What happens in iPhone stays in the iPhone”. But if you are determined enough to get it, you can still get it.
According to Israeli security firm Cellebrite, a company that works closely with US law enforcement agencies including the FBI and ICE, the company can “bypass or determine locks and perform a full file system extraction on any iOS device,” running iOS 7 to iOS 12.3 by using “sophisticated algorithms to minimize unlock attempts.”
Cellebrite manufactures and sells its Universal Forensic Extraction Device (UFED) to law enforcement, government agencies, and military. This device can unlock and grab data from 20,000 types of devices. A new version of UFED brings the iPhone cracking capability. Cellebrite calls the new UFED Premium an “exclusive solution for law enforcement.
It should be noted that Apple has released new iOS 12.3 just a month ago. That means they must have found some security vulnerabilities in software. So up until Apple find out the vulnerability and patch it UFED will be able to unlock the devices. Cellebrite also says it can do a physical or full file system extraction from high-end Android devices from Samsung, Motorola, Huawei, LG, and Xiaomi.
Back in 2016, the FBI requested Apple to unlock an iPhone 5C that was used by a shooter. But Apple refused to unlock the device. But later FBI able to unlock the device with the help of a third party company. Some people say the company was Cellebrite.