Apple’s iPhone offers plenty of tools to encrypt users’ data and keep it safe. If you’re law enforcement looking to investigate a crime, however, some of these tools can get in the way. That’s why they have Graykey, a device that disables some of iPhone’s safety features to make the data inside more accessible.
Graykey has been around for years. But like most powerful tech, it keeps evolving. A new report reveals Graykey received a fresh enhancement last year that goes above and beyond anything seen before from the tool. Here’s what it can and can’t do.
Graykey Preserve keeps the phone on and active to ensure prolonged AFU data access.
When it comes to securing data, iPhones have two function states: Before First Unlock and After First Unlock.
Before First Unlock is the state an iPhone defaults to when it loses power, either if the battery dies or if it’s turned off manually. In this state, all internal files are protected by hardware encryption via the Secure Enclave, and the only way to access the data inside is to input the passcode and unlock the phone. Most user data — including network information, files, and location — is very hard to extract in this instance.
After First Unlock is an iPhone’s typical operating state enabled once the passcode has been entered and the user has reached the home screen. In this condition, the Secure Enclave permits access to data that was locked tight in BFU mode. While you may need a passcode to reach this information, law enforcement can use various tools to extract what they need, assuming your phone is in their possession.
In AFU mode, law enforcement can access:
iPhone model and iOS versionIdentifiers, like the serial number and UDIDPairing recordsNetwork configurations down to your Wi-Fi network and VPN statusConnected Bluetooth devicesInformation stored in KeychainFiles, photos, contacts, and moreLocation information
With iOS 18, Apple added an extra safety measure to protect users if they’re separated from their devices. Inactivity Reboot checks to see how much time has passed since an iPhone was unlocked and used. If the passcode hasn’t been inputted for 72 hours, it automatically reboots, forcing the phone into BFU mode.
This, of course, causes plenty of problems for police when they seize a device and put it into lockup. If they don’t access the files they need on the phone within the first three days, it will lock them out, and they’ll have a much harder time finding evidence.
Until now.
According to 404 Media, a company called Magnet Forensics makes a device for law enforcement dubbed Graykey Preserve, which virtually disables Inactivity Reboot.
Instead of allowing an iPhone to shut down and default to BFU mode, Graykey Preserve keeps the phone on and active to ensure prolonged AFU data access. This extends the time that law enforcement can scan through files on a seized device to find what they’re looking for.
The report noted that Graykey Preserve showed up in educational materials dating back to early 2025, so the device has been around for at least more than a year, if not longer.
RELATED: New spyware targets iPhones. Are you at risk?
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It’s unclear exactly how Graykey Preserve keeps an iPhone in AFU mode, or if the hardware uses an unknown exploit within iPhone to get it done. Either way, it’s always a good idea to update the software on your phone regularly to ensure you have the best security and protection available.
While Graykey can prevent a powered-on device from reaching BFU mode through Inactivity Reboot, so far, there are no indications that it can bypass BFU if the device is already powered down. That means if a user turns his iPhone off before it’s seized, there is less of a chance that law enforcement can brute force their way in.
Graykey has been around for several years with reports of its AFU-data-scraping capabilities dating back to 2024. In addition to iPhone, Graykey hardware can extract data from many Android handsets in AFU mode as well, so no platform is particularly off-limits for the law.
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Data security, Iphone, Security, Law enforcement, Tech