Since my account is getting attention at the moment, I’d like to ask for help. My husband passed away unexpectedly two years ago. I would do anything to access the photos on his iPhone. Do I know anyone who could *cough cough* help? - ThreadSky

dataandpolitics.net • 15 days ago

Since my account is getting attention at the moment, I’d like to ask for help.

My husband passed away unexpectedly two years ago.

I would do anything to access the photos on his iPhone.

Do I know anyone who could *cough cough* help?

Comments

ricst.bsky.social•15 days ago

His photos should be in Apple’s cloud so if you have his Appleid and password, you should be able to see them in a web browset

dataandpolitics.net•15 days ago

He did not use that option. :(

ricst.bsky.social•15 days ago

Well then take the phone to an Apple Store and see what they recommend

tonyjoyce.bsky.social•15 days ago

Recommend having a copy of a death certificate when you go. I needed one when dealing with a deceased relative’s account.

jeremyz.bsky.social•15 days ago

Drive Savers is one of the longest running data recovery businesses in operation. They are expensive, but it's who we sent drives and devices to when i worked in corporate IT. https://drivesaversdatarecovery.com/

moni.fans•15 days ago

two things: if they had a computer, they may have a password manager and saved passwords which could give you access to their icloud account on pc, and view photos that way

dbay1.bsky.social•15 days ago

📌 iPhone photos recovery

amwclark.bsky.social•15 days ago

Wow, it's been that long?! I remember... You were so.... yeah. 💔

theonlybear.bsky.social•15 days ago

What have you done so far?

dataandpolitics.net•15 days ago

Nothing. This is more black hat level because of how the iPhone is designed.

mikecherry.bsky.social•15 days ago

Few years back I tried cracking the encryption on a backup image of my wife’s old iPhone. Neither me nor some of the hashcat team could. Apple does encryption right. But if you still have the physical phone, there are options.

dataandpolitics.net•15 days ago

I have the phone.

mikecherry.bsky.social•15 days ago

Did he have a will naming you as the executor of his estate?

dataandpolitics.net•15 days ago

It’s a hardware/software problem not a legal one. It’s hardware encrypted.

mikecherry.bsky.social•15 days ago

Apple can unlock the phone but they won’t if you can’t prove you’re the legally appointed executor of your late husband’s estate. I know this because I went through it with my Dad’s phone just last year.

I promise you I’m not talking out of my ass. I’ve been in infosec for 13 years, tech for 20.

mikecherry.bsky.social•15 days ago

That said, if you don’t have the legal stuff, you could ask some of the guys from the Hashcat team for recommendations. https://bsky.app/profile/chick3nman.bsky.social

I don’t think Corellium offers this as a service to individuals, but their machine is what law enforcement uses to break into iPhones that are intact.

zota.bsky.social•15 days ago

Do you have access to a computer that he used to sync photos or backups?

dataandpolitics.net•15 days ago

I think so but without the password.

zota.bsky.social•15 days ago

I'd try getting in to that computer first—see if there's a password hint to help. It should only make you wait for a while if you fail too many attempts. If you can get in, it's possible the computer will still recognize the phone and allow a sync.

mx0x20wednesday.bsky.social•15 days ago

what phone and os?

dataandpolitics.net•15 days ago

13. Not updated since late 2022.

mx0x20wednesday.bsky.social•15 days ago

what have you done so far?

dataandpolitics.net•15 days ago

Nothing. I don’t want to touch it because of the password attempt limits.

mx0x20wednesday.bsky.social•15 days ago

it looks like apple has a process for unlocking if you can establish ownership via an old invoice

was it a shared phone plan?

dataandpolitics.net•15 days ago

It was but I’ve tried that. That feature came out the month after he died.

realitybites.bsky.social•15 days ago

I wish you luck. Please keep us posted if you can manage to do this.
My mom passed away, and I lost a voicemail from her when I got a new phone and transferred my information over to the new phone. I'll never hear her voice again. Previous phone transfers worked fine, but the last one didn't.

zebrafishevodevo.bsky.social•15 days ago

I recently tried to unlock my dad’s iPhone after he passed away. Even as his executor Apple flatly refused unless I go through probate and get a court order. He died with more money in his change drawer than his bank account so I let it go. I am sorry for your loss & hope you can figure it out.

dataandpolitics.net•15 days ago

I have such an order.

zebrafishevodevo.bsky.social•15 days ago

I might be misunderstanding what you shared about the situation — my understanding from my experience is that if you go to an Apple store they should unlock the phone for you since you have the court order. Best wishes for getting enough puzzle pieces to put it together 🍀

jefflevi.bsky.social•15 days ago

You can sometimes get them to unlock the contents of media and purchase that were tied to an Apple account via a court order. They don’t have to, but you can ask.

If your person had photos in iCloud photos, those photos might be there and retrievable.

jefflevi.bsky.social•15 days ago

However, if the phone has not backed up to iCloud in 180 days, Apple can delete the iCloud backups for that device.

If they were not using iCloud, and they plugged the phone into a computer, a backup of the phone may exist there-

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