Apple's New iOS 18.1 Feature Challenges Law Enforcement's iPhone Access

iPhones Kept by Law Enforcement Allegedly Reboot Themselves, Locking Them Out

Law enforcement officials said they want to raise awareness of the issue across the forensic and investigative fields.

Apple's new iPhone update is locking law enforcement out of phones

Apple made your iPhone more secure and apparently no one really noticed until law enforcement got locked out of devices they had previously or were trying to crack.Last week, 404 Media reported on a new phenomenon occurring that was freaking out law enforcement. iPhones that were being stored for forensic investigations were "mysteriously" rebooting, making it harder for LEOs to collect evidence from the devices.Now, a researcher at the Hasso Pl…

Cops Have Less Time to Break Into iPhones Thanks to iOS 18.1 Security Measure

Apple seems to have introduced an "activity timer" into iOS 18.1 that reboots devices after a set period of time, making it harder to break into them.

A new iOS 18 security feature makes it harder for police to unlock iPhones

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images There is an apparently new iOS 18 security feature that reboots iPhones that haven’t been unlocked in a few days, frustrating police by making it harder to break into suspects’ iPhones, according to 404 Media. 404 Media, which first reported police warnings about the reboots on Thursday, writes that restarted iPhones enter a more secure “Before First Unlock,” or BFU state. Now, it seems Apple adde…

Auto-Rebooting iPhones Are Causing Chaos for Cops

Plus: Hot Topic confirms a customer data breach, Germany arrests a US citizen for allegedly passing military secrets to Chinese intelligence, and more.