iOS 10 is easier to crack, according to the IT security experts at Elcomsoft, who say that iTunes backups are not as well encrypted as those in iOS 9. According to this company, iOS 10 makes it easier to crack passwords for backups through attacks brute force because it removed certain security measures existing in iOS 9.
In this idea, they claim that they can try up to 6 million passwords per second for iOS 10, compared to only 2500 passwords per second for iOS 9, the difference being a colossal one. In this idea, future versions of the software developed by Elcomsoft will be much, much more effective in cracking iOS 10 backup passwords compared to iOS 9.
Another IT security expert named Per Thorsheim claims that Apple changed the hashing algorithm for iOS 10, and thus passwords could be broken more easily by brute force. According to him, instead of using SHA1 hashing with 10K iterations, now SHA256 is used with a single iteration, so breaking passwords through brute force is easier.
iOS 10 is easier to hack
According to those from Elcomsoft, the performance obtained with their software for cracking passwords would increase by up to 40 times in iOS 10 compared to iOS 9. Basically, all customers could crack more backups, which they would have at hand, in a much shorter time, because they can be tried with many more passwords per second.
With 6 million passwords per second tested to break a backup by brute-force, we are talking about a very short time in which any malicious person can gain access to the data. Of course, those from Apple have not commented on the situation in any way and probably won't either, as long as they have various disputes with the FBI and other federal agencies.
That said, iOS 10 no longer protects backups as well, and this could be an entryway for improving jailbreak solutions.
