Is the iPhone hard drive encrypted?

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Level 1

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Is the iPhone hard drive encrypted?

Recently my iPhone 5 was stolen, and so I started wondering about some questions. Luckily it managed to be reconnected to an internet connection and it was erased through iCloud.

My question is, does anyone know if the iPhone hard drive is encrypted? Let's say the phone never made it to a connection and therefore didn't receive the command for a swipe. Could a thief plug in the iphone and access the data on it, or extract the hard drive and get access to it? Or is the data on the iphone encrypted?

Thanks!

Posted on Jul 9, 2014 4:19 AM

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Answer 1

wjosten

Level 10

95,321 points

Jul 9, 2014 4:49 AM in response to joek06

First, there's no hard drive on any iOS device...it's flash storage. Second, iPhone supports hardware encryption, but you must set and use a passcode to insure your data can't be accessed. If you used a passcode, unless someone can guess your passcode, your data is safe.

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Answer 2

joek06 Author

Level 1

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Jul 9, 2014 5:47 AM in response to wjosten

First, thank you for your reply and numerating it.

Second, irrespective of the passcode, if the flash storage was removed from the iPhone and hooked to a PC, would it be accessible, or is the flash storage encrypted as a whole?

Thanks.

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Answer 3

wjosten

Level 10

95,321 points

Jul 9, 2014 5:53 AM in response to joek06

Perhaps this will help you better understand how difficult it is to get to any data on an iPhone protected with a passcode: Most police depts. and gov't agencies end up sending the phones they confiscate to Apple, with a court order, in order to get any data stored on the phone.

You have nothing to worry about if the phone is protected with a passcode.

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Answer 4

silvergc

Level 4

1,002 points

Jul 9, 2014 9:39 AM in response to joek06

The flash memory is soldered onto the main board (not socketed). This means that the probability of success in extracting the chip and re-assembling it to a carrier that could be read on a PC is rather low. Certainly some government agencies would have the ability to do this, but not the average criminal. The cost is much too high for even normal identity theft. Couple that with the memory encryption and you are safe from all but the most persistent prying eyes (NSA, CIA,..._

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