Shortly after the release of the first beta of iOS 10, security experts realized that Apple had stopped the kernel without encryption. After speculating on the reason, the Cupertino confirmed that they had left it without encryption because it did not include important user data and improve the performance of the system, something that seems to be confirmed after just two betas of the next operating system for iOS devices.
The performance may not be the only reason. Security experts say this way some security flaws will be discovered before and they can also be corrected before. In addition, Ubuntu is one of the most secure operating systems for computer and does not have the encryption kernel. But the latest information says that Apple has taken one step further with the release of beta 2 of iOS 10 and left even more parts without encryption.
The second beta of iOS 10 is even less encrypted
It was no accident. Apple left even more images unencrypted in 10.0b2 (e.g. all ramdisks and 32-bit bootloaders!) https://t.co/vE674FHWzD
-Ⓜ (@MuscleNerd) July 6, 2016 MuscleNerd
Not was an accident. Apple has left even more images without encryption in 10.0b2 (e.g. all the ramdisks and bootloaders from 32-bits!)
In addition to the kernel and the main file system (with few user data) that were already clear in the first beta, the second beta of iOS 10 has left unencrypted the bootloaders for 32-bit, all ls ramdisks less of the Apple TV and all the kernels. what is going on here?
All have left unencrypted images of iOS 10 is what we see with the initials “SEP”, which means Secure Enclave. We also need to take into account that we are talking about launches in beta and it is possible that Apple will encrypt some images when the system is released officially, something that will take place in September.
What is Secure Enclave?
From the 5s onwards iPhone, iOS devices have a small chip inside the processor application that is responsible for encrypting data as those who write in the flash memory and processes the input from the Touch ID. This chip is called the Secure Enclave.
No software, hardware or service has access to the information stored in Secure Enclave. This small chip has its own firmware, bootloader, and code. The “SEP” uses its own memory encrypted and only communicates with the A9, A7 or A8 using a switch where the processor makes some data in a shared memory buffer and then reads the results of round.
In any case, if I preguntarais me if I’m worried about all that is leaving Apple unencrypted, the immediate response would be Yes, that I have the feeling that “bad guys” are going to find and exploit bugs sooner. But if I think about it a little, I use Ubuntu on my laptop even since before pass to Mac, the system is not encrypted from head to toes and rarely has security problems. Thanks to the community, the Ubuntu security problems are solved literally in hours and that is what would happen from iOS 10.
But well, we are talking about the betas of iOS 10. This debate will be more interesting if they leave unencrypted these images in September.
