A couple of years ago, my iPhone 14 was stolen and later appeared in China. It's been showing 'pending erase' in my account ever since. I didn't back up any photos to iCloud due to limited storage, so I believe I have some photos and voice notes that are only on the device itself. Recently, I received an email demanding $5,000 to prevent the release of my phone's data, including some work documents that I had photographed. While I'm not particularly worried about the content, I'm curious about how they accessed this data, considering I've heard that stolen devices are typically safeguarded by encryption. Is it possible that the memory encryption could be cracked? I'm also wondering how long it takes for older devices to become vulnerable to hacking.
2 Answers
The older a device is, the more likely it is that hackers can access it. Hackers have more time to explore older models for vulnerabilities, especially if they’ve kept the device offline and it hasn’t received any updates. Newer iPhones are much harder to crack, but as software ages, it can become more susceptible. If they have your old phone and it’s still pending erase, they might not have received any lock signals yet, making it easier to hack into it in the future.
The strength of the passcode also plays a huge role in security. If your passcode was just six numerical digits, that might be easier to crack than a longer, more complex passcode. Basically, over time, older devices can become targets for hackers, especially if they’ve found ways around the security.
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