Proving once again that Russian software experts make superb hackers, Elcomsoft Proactive Software of Moscow, Russia has created a tool that enables accessing the iCloud backups of users who are logged in to their iCloud account, without their cooperation or consent. The tool takes advantage of the method Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) uses to keep users logged in over an extended period of time without needing to re-enter their passwords.
Accessing a user’s iCloud without a password requires physical access to a computer or mobile device logged into the Cloud, something which is obviously quite possible when the accessing individual is a member of a police force with a search warrant. Once a user logs into the Cloud, Apple’s (AAPL) systems periodically generate an “authentication token,” which keeps them logged in without the need to continually enter their password again.
Elcomsoft’s tool extracts the authentication token from a computer or iPhone, then uses it to gain access to backups on the iCloud, bypassing all password requirements. The user can then obtain all data that the account’s original owner has backed up to the Cloud, which, of course, often includes their most valuable and sensitive files.
Elcomsoft’s website describes their “forensic software” suite, “Elcom Phone Password Breaker” with a combination of disarming honesty and startling brazenness: “Data can be accessed without the consent [or] knowledge of the device owner, making Elcomsoft Phone Password Breaker an ideal solution for law enforcement and intelligence organizations.” The suite enables bypassing large files such as videos which “take a long time to download” and zero in on messages, call logs, address books, email account settings, and other highly private data.
The iCloud authentication token tool, though a powerful element in the suite, is only one of an array of features advertised by the Moscow enterprise. Among other software features advertised are brute force attacks, dictionary attacks with mutations, decryption tools, and password recovery protocols.
Though the software comes in three different levels – Home, Professional, and Forensic – the iCloud authentication token extractor is present only in the Forensic Edition. The Forensic Edition is available for $399, which includes 1 year free technical support from Elcomsoft, and, alarmingly, can seemingly be licensed by private individuals as readily as by the aforementioned “law enforcement and intelligence organizations.”
