GrayKey: What you need to know about this iPhone hacker and how to protect yourself

Police and other law-enforcement agencies now have inexpensive access to a hacking device that can crack iPhone and iPad passwords in a matter of minutes. First reported in early March by Forbes, GrayKey, from a company called Grayshift (go.macworld.com/gshf), is designed for turn-key cracking of iOS passcodes.

In mid-March, Malwarebytes explored the device in greater depth, noting that a four-digit PIN could be cracked in a couple of hours and a six-digit PIN would require as many as a few days.

Motherboard extended this reporting recently, with more details about how GrayKey has been used in the field. And security researcher Matthew Green posted a message on Twitter showing