ElcomSoft Co. Ltd. releases a Mac version of Elcomsoft Phone Breaker. The Mac version of the company's cloud forensics and backup acquisition tool enables experts to download device backups and arbitrary information from suspects' cloud accounts (Apple iCloud and Microsoft Account), decrypts encrypted iPhone and BlackBerry 10 backups, and enables access to iOS keychain items.
With this release, ElcomSoft has finally made its flagship cloud forensics and mobile backup acquisition tool available to Mac OS users.
"Our customers have long asked for a Mac version", says Vladimir Katalov, ElcomSoft CEO. "We started preparing this release last year by first migrating the user interface to Qt, a platform-independent library. Today we're doing the last step, releasing the long-awaited Mac OS build of Elcomsoft Phone Breaker."
Thanks to the use of Qt, a platform-independent UI abstraction layer, Elcomsoft Phone Breaker looks and feels exactly like its Windows counterpart, enabling experts to seamlessly transfer their usage experience between platforms.
The Mac OS version of Elcomsoft Phone Breaker offers most of the features of the PC build with one exception: there is no brute-forcing of passwords protecting offline iOS backups. ElcomSoft decided to hold password recovery back due to the fact that many Mac OS computers are laptops with relatively weak hardware and non-upgradable GPU accelerators, and assuming that most password recovery work is delegated to powerful servers running the Windows OS.
About Mac OS X
According to Gartner, Mac OS is taking a 7.28 per cent market share worldwide (13.4 per cent in the US). That number has been constantly growing since 2013. The majority of devices running Mac OS are variations of Apple MacBook. According to ElcomSoft survey, Mac OS computers are popular with forensic investigators and experts in computer security, with nearly 50 per cent of all surveyed customers asking for a Mac version of Elcomsoft Phone Breaker. The majority of Mac OS devices possessed by these users are Apple MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.
In general, Mac OS users don't have access to such a wide range of forensic tools as users of Windows-based PCs, often running Windows versions of such tools through VirtualBox.
With the release of Elcomsoft Phone Breaker for Mac, Mac OS users get one more important forensic tool to run natively in Mac OS. Elcomsoft Phone Breaker for Mac features the same familiar user interface of its Windows counterpart thanks to the use of Qt, a platform-independent UI library.
About Elcomsoft Phone Breaker for Mac
Elcomsoft Phone Breaker for Mac is a cloud and mobile forensic tool for the Mac OS X platform. The tool provides forensic access to encrypted information stored in popular Apple and BlackBerry devices, Apple iCloud/iCloud Drive and Windows Live! accounts. Elcomsoft Phone Breaker for Mac can extract information from Apple iCloud with or without the original Apple ID and password, and decrypt local backups for all versions of Apple iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch devices.
Cloud acquisition is available for iOS and Windows Phone 8 devices without having the original device in hands. All that's needed to access online backups stored in the cloud are the original user's credentials including Apple ID or Live ID accompanied with the corresponding password. Alternatively, investigators can access Apple iCloud by using a binary authentication token acquired from the suspect's PC or Mac.
In order to enable password-free iCloud acquisition, Elcomsoft Phone Breaker for Mac comes with all the command-line tools the investigator needs to extract binary authentication tokens from the suspect's Mac OS computer. By using a binary authentication token, forensic experts can connect to Apple iCloud and retrieve device backups, iCloud data and files stored iCloud Drive without knowing the original Apple ID and password.
Elcomsoft Phone Breaker for Mac can decrypt password-protected local backups created with Apple iTunes provided that the original plain-text password is known or recovered with the Windows version of Elcomsoft Phone Breaker.
With local and cloud acquisition support, the tool offers forensic specialists access to SMS and email messages, call history, contacts and organizer data, Web browsing history, voicemail and email accounts and settings stored in those backup files.
Pricing and Availability
Elcomsoft Phone Breaker for Mac is available immediately. Professional and Forensic editions are available. iCloud recovery is only available in both editions, while password-free iCloud access as well as the ability to download arbitrary information from iCloud and iCloud Drive are only available in the Forensic edition. Elcomsoft Phone Breaker Pro is available to North American customers for $199. The Forensic edition enabling over-the-air acquisition of iCloud data is available for $799. Users of the PC version will be able to purchase the Mac edition at a discount. Local pricing may vary.
Elcomsoft Phone Breaker for Mac supports Mac OS X 10.7 and newer. Elcomsoft Phone Breaker for Mac operates without Apple iTunes or BlackBerry Desktop Software being installed.
With this release, ElcomSoft has finally made its flagship cloud forensics and mobile backup acquisition tool available to Mac OS users.
"Our customers have long asked for a Mac version", says Vladimir Katalov, ElcomSoft CEO. "We started preparing this release last year by first migrating the user interface to Qt, a platform-independent library. Today we're doing the last step, releasing the long-awaited Mac OS build of Elcomsoft Phone Breaker."
Thanks to the use of Qt, a platform-independent UI abstraction layer, Elcomsoft Phone Breaker looks and feels exactly like its Windows counterpart, enabling experts to seamlessly transfer their usage experience between platforms.
The Mac OS version of Elcomsoft Phone Breaker offers most of the features of the PC build with one exception: there is no brute-forcing of passwords protecting offline iOS backups. ElcomSoft decided to hold password recovery back due to the fact that many Mac OS computers are laptops with relatively weak hardware and non-upgradable GPU accelerators, and assuming that most password recovery work is delegated to powerful servers running the Windows OS.
About Mac OS X
According to Gartner, Mac OS is taking a 7.28 per cent market share worldwide (13.4 per cent in the US). That number has been constantly growing since 2013. The majority of devices running Mac OS are variations of Apple MacBook. According to ElcomSoft survey, Mac OS computers are popular with forensic investigators and experts in computer security, with nearly 50 per cent of all surveyed customers asking for a Mac version of Elcomsoft Phone Breaker. The majority of Mac OS devices possessed by these users are Apple MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.
In general, Mac OS users don't have access to such a wide range of forensic tools as users of Windows-based PCs, often running Windows versions of such tools through VirtualBox.
With the release of Elcomsoft Phone Breaker for Mac, Mac OS users get one more important forensic tool to run natively in Mac OS. Elcomsoft Phone Breaker for Mac features the same familiar user interface of its Windows counterpart thanks to the use of Qt, a platform-independent UI library.
About Elcomsoft Phone Breaker for Mac
Elcomsoft Phone Breaker for Mac is a cloud and mobile forensic tool for the Mac OS X platform. The tool provides forensic access to encrypted information stored in popular Apple and BlackBerry devices, Apple iCloud/iCloud Drive and Windows Live! accounts. Elcomsoft Phone Breaker for Mac can extract information from Apple iCloud with or without the original Apple ID and password, and decrypt local backups for all versions of Apple iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch devices.
Cloud acquisition is available for iOS and Windows Phone 8 devices without having the original device in hands. All that's needed to access online backups stored in the cloud are the original user's credentials including Apple ID or Live ID accompanied with the corresponding password. Alternatively, investigators can access Apple iCloud by using a binary authentication token acquired from the suspect's PC or Mac.
In order to enable password-free iCloud acquisition, Elcomsoft Phone Breaker for Mac comes with all the command-line tools the investigator needs to extract binary authentication tokens from the suspect's Mac OS computer. By using a binary authentication token, forensic experts can connect to Apple iCloud and retrieve device backups, iCloud data and files stored iCloud Drive without knowing the original Apple ID and password.
Elcomsoft Phone Breaker for Mac can decrypt password-protected local backups created with Apple iTunes provided that the original plain-text password is known or recovered with the Windows version of Elcomsoft Phone Breaker.
With local and cloud acquisition support, the tool offers forensic specialists access to SMS and email messages, call history, contacts and organizer data, Web browsing history, voicemail and email accounts and settings stored in those backup files.
Pricing and Availability
Elcomsoft Phone Breaker for Mac is available immediately. Professional and Forensic editions are available. iCloud recovery is only available in both editions, while password-free iCloud access as well as the ability to download arbitrary information from iCloud and iCloud Drive are only available in the Forensic edition. Elcomsoft Phone Breaker Pro is available to North American customers for $199. The Forensic edition enabling over-the-air acquisition of iCloud data is available for $799. Users of the PC version will be able to purchase the Mac edition at a discount. Local pricing may vary.
Elcomsoft Phone Breaker for Mac supports Mac OS X 10.7 and newer. Elcomsoft Phone Breaker for Mac operates without Apple iTunes or BlackBerry Desktop Software being installed.
