Skip to main content

The IP-Box can guess your iPhone's passcode in under 17 hours

With every iOS update, Apple makes sure that its mobile operating system remains one that can withstand forced entries. Unfortunately for the company, the existence of the so-called “IP-Box” device could mean that Apple still has work to do, as reported by the NY Daily News.

The aforementioned IP-Box is at the center of a case in New York City, where Brooklyn federal judge Sterling Johnson forbade the use of evidence seized from an accused heroin smuggler’s iPhone. According to the judge, the agents that gathered evidence leading to Amadou Djibo’s arrest unlawfully used his password to gain entry into his iPhone, since they did not give him a Miranda warning, a requirement in New York, when he was stopped at John F. Kennedy Airport in February 2014.

Recommended Videos

In a possible effort to justify its actions, the government claimed that Djibo’s iPhone could still lawfully be hacked into after his arrest by an independent third party. More specifically, U.S. Department of Homeland Security special agent David Bauer, who testified in the case, revealed the existence of a “fairly new” device called the IP-Box.

According to Bauer, the IP-Box goes through every possible 4-digit passcode combination, from 0000 to 9999, and can theoretically find the correct passcode in less than 17 hours. However, in his 30-page decision, Johnson brought up a similar case brought before the magistrate in which federal prosecutors argued that the IP-Box was unreliable and brought with it a “non-trivial risk of data destruction.”

In other words, the IP-Box, alleged federal prosecutors in the previous case, could destroy data stored within an iPhone instead of carrying out its intended duties of finding the right passcode.

Those same federal prosecutors who argued that the IP-Box was unreliable also argued that it is extremely difficult to break into an iPhone, which was the opposite of what the prosecutors in Djibo’s case argued. Unsurprisingly, Apple’s lawyers also argued that it’s extremely difficult, to the point of impossibility, to break into the latest iPhones, the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus.

Even considering its alleged unreliability, it seems like iPhone owners can thwart the IP-Box if they utilize a longer passcode or elect to have their iPhones erased after 10 failed attempts. And remember: at least for now, you can just plead the Fifth if a representative of the government seeks your phone password.

Williams Pelegrin
Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…
This one iPadOS 26 feature has me excited for the iPhone Fold
Semi-open state of a foldable iPhone concept

Samsung is set to launch the seventh generation of its Galaxy Z Fold book-style folding phone this Summer, but its biggest rival is yet to show its folding phone hand. Apple has long been expected to unveil an iPhone Fold, and the latest rumors suggest that it will launch next year.

I’ve used almost every folding phone released globally, with some exceptions for extremely obscure ones. While I've always been curious what an iPhone Fold would look like, I was fairly certain that Apple shouldn't build it, as I wasn’t sure they could deliver on one necessary feature.

Read more
These three iOS 26 beta features are my favorite so far
The Liquid Design lock screen on the iOS 26 developer beta 1 running on the iPhone 16 Pro

For fans of the Apple ecosystem, it’s been an incredible week. Apple’s annual WWDC 2025 keynote revealed a whole new Liquid Glass design that’s unified across all its platforms. Also unified across all platforms is the numbering scheme, with iOS 26 designed to represent the year of release… plus one. 

The new platform doesn’t deliver one of the key things I asked for — multitasking, which is available on iPadOS 26 — but it does bring several new features that make the iPhone far more usable. 

Read more
Will my iPhone get iOS 26? Here’s every supported model
We've got the full list of iOS 26 supported devices - find out if you're getting the new iPhone update
iOS 26 features on a series of iPhone screens

Apple announced iOS 26 at WWDC 2025, and the new iPhone update comes with a fresh new 'Liquid Glass' look and plenty of features - and there are loads of iOS 26 supported devices, which is great news.

And no, you haven't missed a volley of updates since iOS 18 in 2024. Apple has skipped a bunch of numbers, so instead of giving us iOS 19 in 2025, we got iOS 26 alongside iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26 and tvOS 26. In short, Apple's brought its operating system numbering into line. Nice.

Read more