Apple iOS 11 security 'downgrade' decried as 'horror show'

Found on The Register on Friday, 01 December 2017
Browse Software

Oleg Afonin, a security researcher for password-cracking forensic IT biz Elcomsoft, in a blog post on Wednesday called iOS 11 "a horror story" due to changes the fruit-themed firm made to its mobile operating system that stripped away a stack of layered defenses.

"Once an intruder gains access to the user’s iPhone and knows (or recovers) the passcode, there is no single extra layer of protection left," Alfonin explains in his post. "Everything (and I mean, everything) is now completely exposed. Local backups, the keychain, iCloud lock, Apple account password, cloud backups and photos, passwords from the iCloud Keychain, call logs, location data, browsing history, browser tabs and even the user’s original Apple ID password are quickly exposed."

Perhaps it was done because users complained and it's more convenient if you only have to remember one passcode. You get convenience, you lost security.