Grayshift Devices Revealed: How Police Unlock iPhones

Enthusiasts have discovered documents online that Grayshift submitted to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC). These papers reveal what the GrayKey 2.0 devices look like—tools that law enforcement uses to unlock the phones of suspects.

Back in 2014, Apple enabled encryption for nearly all data stored on iPhones, making it extremely difficult to access this information without knowing the device’s PIN or password. Since then, digital forensics companies like Grayshift and Cellebrite have developed solutions to help law enforcement agencies unlock iPhones and access data that may be useful in investigations.

For years, Grayshift, which sells unlocking devices for iPhones and Android devices to law enforcement agencies, has kept its technology secret, aggressively protecting its hardware and software from public scrutiny. Even the appearance of Grayshift’s equipment has been a closely guarded secret.

Essentially, the GrayKey device brute-forces the password of an iPhone or Android device, unlocking it and allowing clients to access and extract data. The first leaks about how GrayKey works and what it looks like appeared in 2018 and 2020, also due to documents filed with the FCC. However, the exact workings of Grayshift’s products remain largely unknown.

The latest leak was discovered by Logan Koepke, head of the nonprofit organization Upturn, which researches and advocates at the intersection of civil rights and technology. Because Grayshift operates legally and is required to file documents with the FCC, the public has now gotten a look at the company’s latest device.

Specifically, the documents found by Koepke show the appearance of the updated GrayKey 2.0. The papers also include a description of the process the company follows before each sale.

“GrayKey is a specialized product available only to vetted law enforcement or government agencies; it is not available for use by the general public. After receiving each account request from a potential client, Grayshift conducts a strict review to mitigate risks and confirm that the request comes from an active law enforcement agency located in a supported country,” wrote Grayshift CFO Mark Snell in one of the submitted documents.