iPhone 6(S)/Plus Accessing sensitive data via iPhone's hard parts?

[dajjorg]

Hi all, security question...

Last year my iPhone 6 stopped working after being dropped. Apple quoted me €200 to fix it, and though i haven't taken it to any private repair shops for a quote, I'm going to have to assume similar. Not worth it.

I was thinking about selling it online for parts, but I wasn't able to erase any content or settings before the phone stopped working... so in theory all my data and info is still "in there" ('there' being whatever the iphone's equivalent of the hard drive is). So my question/concern is: if I sold it to a stranger, would that someone (now with access to the hard parts on my old iphone) be able to somehow access my old data & info? You know, like in the same way that someone who stole my PC could retreive its data by removing the hard drive, all while not needing to know my PC's account password...

Thanks!

 

[eyoungren]

Content stored on the iPhone is encrypted. Anyone trying to break the encryption would need the hardware keys. Apple doesn't have those. They'd also have to break through Activation Lock which generally renders an iDevice useless, except for it's parts.

Now, if someone had access to a GrayKey, they could probably tap the logicboard and break in, but GrayKeys are only sold to law enforcement (so the company says). This is assuming your LB still works.

Any FaceID or TouchID data you have is further stored in an encrypted enclave, separate from the device itself. So, getting that data off would require breaking that encryption as well.

 

[dajjorg]

So in summary it seems that the risk is not zero, but close to it?...

 

[eyoungren]

So in summary it seems that the risk is not zero, but close to it?...

I would say so. It is possible, but highly improbable.

You'd either have to have law enforcement or someone who seriously knows what they are doing involved (or both). That would mean you're a known target for some reason. If that's not your situation then I don't believe there is anything to worry about.