The reason why confiscated iPhones restart on their own has been named, making it harder for police to access data

We recently wrote that iPhone models running iOS 18 that have been seized by US police automatically reboot after a while. This makes it difficult for law enforcers to use the devices to hack and unlock phones to find evidence of crimes. It was speculated that this could be either a security improvement or just a bug that some iOS 18 users had previously encountered. But now it's being reported that it wasn't a bug.....

Here's What We Know

Apple is known to have quietly introduced code in iOS 18.1 that reboots locked devices after four days of inactivity, improving the overall security of iPhones and making it harder for police or intruders to access the devices. The reboot takes the iPhone from an "After First Unlock" (AFU) state to a "Before First Unlock" (BFU) state, making it more tamper-proof.

The problem was further complicated by the fact that the iPhones seized by the police with iOS 18.1 firmware somehow transmitted a signal to other confiscated iPhones with older iOS versions, which also caused them to restart, making them harder to access.

Experts have confirmed that iPhones that run iOS 18.1 or higher (not iOS 18 as previously speculated) now contain new device security code that Apple has not previously disclosed.

The measure is aimed at improving user security by preventing users from accessing their data in the first place if their phone is stolen. However, it also raises concerns for police as it makes it harder to gather evidence for criminal cases.

Source: 404 Media