The Chinese government claims that its official agencies have recently broken through Apple’s security settings and developed an encrypted device log to crack the iPhone, thereby extracting the mobile phone number and email address of the person who sent the message via AirDrop. This is undoubtedly bad news for users who plan to use AirDrop’s anonymous method to send messages to the outside world.
Report from Beijing iPhone users
The official website of the Beijing Municipal Government, “Capital Window”, recently published an article titled “Forensic appraisal reveals the mystery of anonymous transmission of ‘airdrop'”. It mentioned that people using iPhones reported that they were using iPhones in the Beijing subway. , received a short video with “inappropriate remarks”. After preliminary investigation by the police, it was found that the suspect used the AirDrop function of the iPhone to anonymously spread inappropriate messages in public places. Due to the anonymity and difficulty of tracking AirDrop, some netizens have begun to imitate this behavior. The relevant authorities believe that it is necessary to find the source of the transmission and confirm its identity as soon as possible.
The public security entrusted the legal affairs agency to crack the
Since AirDrop can transfer files without being connected, it cannot be effectively monitored through general network monitoring methods, making it difficult for the public security organs to solve the case. Therefore, the public security organs commissioned the Beijing Netshendongjian Judicial Appraisal Institute to inspect the airdrop function of mobile phones. Records are extracted and analyzed. As a result, forensic technical experts found records related to AirDrop through in-depth analysis of iPhone device logs and transmission principles. After inspection, fields related to the device name, E-Mail address, and mobile phone number of the message sender were found. The E-Mail address and mobile phone number were recorded in Hash form, and some fields were hidden.
Detailed analysis of iPhone files
“Capital Window” reported that in order to quickly crack this field, the technical team created a detailed “rainbow table” of mobile phone numbers and email address accounts, converted the cipher text into original text, and then quickly locked the mobile phone of the person who sent the message. number and email address. The Beijing Wangshendongjian Forensic Appraisal Institute, which successfully cracked the case, finally issued a legally binding forensic opinion, analyzing the sending and receiving end devices in detail and assisting the public security in identifying multiple suspects involved in the case. The report mentioned that this time the forensic identification agency broke through the technical difficulties of AirDrop anonymity, improved the efficiency and accuracy of case detection, and prevented the further spread of inappropriate remarks and potential negative effects.
Apple has not responded yet
When the foreign website Time reported this news, it pointed out that AirDrop is one of the information dissemination channels widely used by social activists around the world. The report also specifically mentioned the anti-Fugitive Offenders Amendment Bill movement in Hong Kong in 2019. At that time, many protesters AirDrop is used to distribute promotional materials, but AirDrop was modified in 2022 in response to China’s requirements, and the communication effectiveness is no longer as good as before. Time website created a query to Apple about the anonymity feature of AirDrop being cracked, but has not received a response yet.
▲Beijing Wangshendongjian Forensic Appraisal Institute
source:Time
#Chinese #government #successfully #cracked #AirDrop #making #identity #sender #undisclosed
2024-01-10 07:17:00