Modern-day smartphones carry a huge amount of data, including personal details, bank records, etc. In the past, they did not have strong security, but thankfully, things have changed over time. But this doesn’t mean that your smartphone and its data are completely safe. Some companies build tools that help law enforcement break into phones. One such company is Cellebrite. A recent leak shows that Google Pixel phones can be hacked using the Cellebrite tool.
Leak shows that most Google Pixel devices are vulnerable to Cellebrite phone hacking
The person, who uses the online name rogueFed, quietly entered a Cellebrite online session and took screenshots. It later posted these screenshots on a community forum of GrapheneOS users. For reference, GrapheneOS is an AOSP skin that focuses on privacy and security. It doesn’t even have Google Apps pre-installed. It is very popular among privacy-seeking tech enthusiasts.
The leaked screenshots mention Pixel 6, Pixel 7, Pixel 8, and Pixel 9 devices. Yes, the recently launched Pixel 10 models weren’t shown. However, this doesn’t mean that they are completely safe. The chart showed three phone conditions. One is before the first unlock, which means the phone has been restarted and remains fully locked. Another is after the first unlock, when some data becomes easier to reach. The last one is when the phone is already unlocked.
Cellebrite can access all of your data even before you can notice
According to the leak, the Cellebrite tool can get data from a Google Pixel phone running on the stock Pixel software in all three conditions. However, the tool still cannot break the phone passcode or copy the digital SIM card. That means some safety remains. But the tools can take a lot of information if the device software is not extra protected.
However, thing seems to be different with devices running GrapheneOS. The chart shows that newer Pixel models running updated GrapheneOS versions are much harder to access. Phones updated after late 2022 appear safe in both locked and unlocked states. Even if a phone is open, the tool cannot grab the stored data the same way. Only things already visible to the user can be checked.
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