No, Your iPhone Passcode Can Not be Easily Bypassed

There’s been an alarming rumor floating around the last few days that claims that an iPhone can be easily unlocked by simply overwhelming the iPhone passcode screen with every possible number combination between 0000 and 9999. And while it sounds like that would be so tedious and time-consuming that it’s borderline impossible, it would actually be easier to pull off than you would think. Fortunately, it’s not true.

The hacker, Hacker Fantastic, claims that while complex passwords are significantly harder, 4 and 6 digit pins can be brute forced rather easily. The iPhone does have security measures built in that enforce a penalty upon the entry of too many invalid passcodes, but according to the hacker, that measure was bypassed through the use of a keyboard and sending all of the test passwords as one long, unbroken string.

The hacker supposedly pulled the feat off, notified Apple, and then posted his own findings on Twitter. Good on him for notifying Apple, bad on him for posting it before Apple had time to fix it. Though, again, it doesn’t work. An Apple representative told several sites that the bypass was an error and the “result of incorrect testing,” presumably on the hacker’s part.

Keep in mind that even law enforcement agencies have trouble breaking an iPhone passcode and need sophisticated machinery to do so. Even more, Apple is continually at work trying to stop them, too. The chances that someone would identify such an easy exploit are pretty slim, so it’s not surprising that this turned out to be bogus.