Windows 11 introduces increased account protection, passwordless sign-in and hardware-based security. What has been changed compared to Windows 10, how these changes affect forensic extraction and analysis, and to what extent can one overcome the TPM-based protection? Read along … | Continue reading
To perform an iCloud extraction, a valid password is generally required, followed by solving the two-factor authentication challenge. If the user’s iPhone is everything that you have, the iCloud password may not be available. By using a trusted device, one can gain unrestricted a … | Continue reading
Released back in 2013, VeraCrypt picks up where TrueCrypt left off. Supporting more encryption algorithms, more hash functions and a variable number of hash iterations, VeraCrypt is the default choice for the security conscious. VeraCrypt has no known weaknesses except one: once … | Continue reading
VeraCrypt is a de-facto successor to TrueCrypt, one of the most popular cryptographic tools for full-disk encryption of internal and external storage devices. Compared to TrueCrypt, which it effectively replaced, VeraCrypt employs a newer and more secure format for encrypted cont … | Continue reading
Home users and small offices are served by two major manufacturers of network attached storage devices (NAS): QNAP and Synology, with Western Digital being a distant third. All Qnap and Synology network attached storage models are advertised with support for hardware-accelerated … | Continue reading
Location data is one of the most sensitive pieces of personal information. In today's world, aggregated location data is as sensitive and as valuable as the user's passwords. Once this data is transmitted to the OS manufacturer's cloud service or any of the third-party vendors, t … | Continue reading
Password managers such as LastPass are designed from the ground up to withstand brute-force attacks on the password database. Using encryption and thousands of hash iterations, the protection is made to slow down access to the encrypted vault that contains all of the user’s store … | Continue reading
Every other day, Apple makes the work of forensic specialists harder. Speaking of iCloud, we partially covered this topic in Apple vs. Law Enforcement: Cloud Forensics and Apple vs Law Enforcement: Cloudy Times, but there is more to it today. The recent iOS (13.4) and macOS (10.1 … | Continue reading
The first Microsoft Office product was announced back in 1988. During the past thirty years, Microsoft Office has evolved from a simple text editor to a powerful combination of desktop apps and cloud services. With more than 1.2 billion users of the desktop Office suite and over … | Continue reading
We have recently updated Elcomsoft iOS Forensic Toolkit, adding the ability to acquire the file system from a wide range of iOS devices. The supported devices include models ranging from the iPhone 5s through the iPhone X regardless of the iOS version; more on that in iOS Device … | Continue reading
With over half a million users, Signal is an incredibly secure cross-platform instant messaging app. With emphasis on security, there is no wonder that Signal is frequently picked as a communication tool by those who have something to hide. Elcomsoft Phone Viewer can now decrypt … | Continue reading
iOS 13 is on the way. While the new mobile OS is still in beta, so far we have not discovered many revolutionary changes in the security department. At the same time, there are quite a few things forensic specialists will need to know about the new iteration of Apple's mobile ope … | Continue reading
With more than 127 million users in multiple countries, Apple Pay is one of the more popular contactless payment systems. Unlike some competing payment technologies, Apple Pay is not only tightly integrated into Apple’s ecosystem but is exclusive to Apple devices.Apple Pay serves … | Continue reading
The most spoken thing about iOS 11.4.1 is undoubtedly USB Restricted Mode. This highly controversial feature is apparently built in response to threats created by passcode cracking solutions such as those made by Cellerbrite and Grayshift. On unmanaged devices, the new default be … | Continue reading
Apple 2FA | Continue reading
A new iOS update is about to roll out in the next few weeks or even days. Reading Apple documentation and researching developer betas, we discovered a major new security feature that is about to be released with iOS 11.4. The update will disable the Lightning port after 7 days si … | Continue reading