Our phones have some very sensitive data on them. They often have our credit card information, bank account information and personal communications.

It is essential that this data stays protected with encrypted locks on the phone.

Apple has committed to keeping iPhones encrypted so that no one would be able to crack open the phone and get to this information. However, a new challenge has recently been presented for Apple.

A company called “Grayshift” has developed an ability to break each iPhone’s encryption and gain complete access to the phone. Grayshift is ran by U.S. intelligence agency contractors and ex-Apple security engineers. Their device for cracking iPhones is called “GrayKey“. It costs $15,000.

This device was used by local, state, and federal police to side-step apple’s encryption with people they suspected of committing crimes.

To combat this new tool, Apple prepared a new update for iOS. With this new feature, iPhones will not transfer any data through the USB port if they haven’t been unlocked in the last hour. This gives police a very, very short window of opportunity to use the GrayKey tool.

This is just the newest battle in the cryptography war with law enforcement. Who will win the war? Will manufacturers keep fighting to keep their users’ information private, or will they be swayed to help the government?

Eric Cawley is an occasional blogger for Gary Stringham & Associates. Gary provides consulting and expert witness services in embedded systems such as robotics. Feel free to contact Gary at 208-939-6984.