True. iOS now supports alphanumeric passwords up to 20 characters in length. The memory copying approach they likely took (NAND mirroring) would not have been practical with a strong password. It's been reported that the phone had a 4 digit passcode.
The iPhone encryption was not broken. The passcode was brute forced. What was broken is the 10 failed attempt counter.
I'm wondering if Apple will introduce more hardware anti-tampering features in the future.
They probably will.
Yep, there is also a “timer” function built in (in a addition to “ten tries & erase” function) that the FBI wanted disabled...after each passcode attempt it adds time so that after several attempts it becomes impractical to attempt a “brute force”. Also, I am pretty sure the San Bernardino Co. iPhone in question was a 5c...I believe that the 6 & 6s have stronger “anti-brute force” built into the hardware whereas the “anti-brute force”in the 5c is software based?
https://www.apple.com/business/docs/iOS_Security_Guide.pdf
I’m wondering if Apple will introduce more hardware anti-tampering features in the future.
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I hope so. I read somewhere yesterday that they’re also going to do something with iCloud.