This Powerful iPhone Hacking Tool Can Now Break Into Samsung Androids

Grayshift, an Atlanta-based startup that made a name for itself with the GrayKey hack tool that breaks through Apple’s iPhone defensesnow officially does the same for Google’s Android operating system. Forbes reported for the first time Grayshift was supposed to try to crack Google’s operating system in 2019. The company confirmed this on Monday.

It starts small, however, focusing only on Samsung S20 and S9 devices, according to a statement from the company. Previously, the company only focused on unlocking locked iOS phones and has gained many customers in federal and local law enforcement in recent years, including 2019 and 2020 contracts worth millions of dollars with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Secret Service and the FBI. Late last week, he signed a deal through his forensic partner Magnet Forensics to supply Graykeys to Customs and Border Protection, with whom he already had contracts.

Now able to crack iPhones and Androids, Grayshift is positioning itself as America’s leading provider of cracking tools for law enforcement, as the US government continues to struggle to gain access to heavily encrypted smartphones. Last year he raised $47 million in a funding round led by private equity firm PeakEquity Partners. Its main competitor remains Cellebrite, a long-time Israeli telephone survey provider, which has contracts with police and law enforcement around the world.

Grayshift said that with its tools, it can now provide “same-day lawful access for iOS devices and major Android devices, often in less than an hour.” The cost of a single annual GrayKey license starts at just under $10,000, which seems like a reduced cost from the previously reported $15,000.

“Old digital forensic investigation tools often do not support the latest mobile devices and can take weeks or even months to access and extract digital evidence. Law enforcement agencies need solutions like GrayKey that can lawfully and quickly access digital evidence to speed up criminal investigations and reduce the backlog of evidenced mobile devices,” said David Miles, co-founder and CEO of Grayshift.

“The ability to access a locked Samsung phone is invaluable. Not only have we been able to access devices that were previously inaccessible, but also the amount of data GrayKey extracts is far greater than anything we’ve even seen previously extracted. from an Android phone,” added Mitch Kajzer, director of the St. Joseph County Cybercrimes Unit at the DA’s office.

While this is a huge boon to law enforcement, privacy advocates have raised concerns that such powerful tools are getting into the hands of law enforcement, especially at the border, where no warrant is required to search a device.

In October 2020, the non-profit organization Upturn, which examines the expansion of surveillance tools across the world, reported on the widespread adoption of forensic technology by phone, warning: “Given the routine of such research today, along with racist policing policies and practices, it is more than likely that these technologies are disparately affecting and being used against communities of color.