ElcomSoft makes available a hotfix release of Elcomsoft Phone Breaker. The update fixes the iCloud authentication issue and resolves the Invalid Credentials error, enabling customers to download iCloud backups and have continued access to files stored in iCloud Drive, synced data, and iCloud Photo Library.

Elcomsoft Phone Breaker 6.46 resolves iCloud authentication issues and fixes the Invalid Credentials error that appeared when users attempted to access information stored in Cloud Drive, read synced data, and access media files fromiCloud Photo Library. The error was the result of the changes Apple made to the authentication mechanism. The new authentication scheme implemented additional security checks that effectively prevented access to iCloud by third-party tools. The fix re-enables access to iCloud backups and synced data via Elcomsoft Phone Breaker.

There are still several unresolved issues in this hotfix release, most important being the following:

• Less synced data is being returned from some specific accounts.
• In a case if incorrect authentication credentials (Apple ID and password) are supplied, Elcomsoft Phone Breaker may display an error message that may say an account has been temporary locked due to security reasons. This message is originated from Apple iCloud. The same error message appears even if you specify an account that does not exist. We are aware of the issue and are working on a fix.
• We experienced a small number of iCloud accountants being locked after downloading iCloud backup(s). This only happens to a very small number of accounts; the lock is temporary and requires a change of password. We’ve also seen some accounts being locked as they were used to restore new Apple devices from iCloud. We are aware of the issue, and keep tracking account locking activities.
• If you download backups from many different iCloud accounts, Apple may block access to iCloud for your specific IP address. This is a server-side security measure. As a workaround, try using different IP addresses to authenticate into different Apple accounts.

At the end of the day, it appears that Apple is up to prevent third-party tools from accessing iCloud data, and is working on adding new security measures to make such access increasingly difficult.