Grayshift

Grayshift was founded in 2016, its founders including a former Apple security engineer. GrayKey surfaced in 2018: a device with two Lightning cables that guesses passcodes on locked iPhones by getting around the protections that normally slow down or wipe the phone after too many attempts. It was sold only to government agencies, at a price that put it within reach of a mid-sized police department.

Apple responded that same year with USB Restricted Mode, which disables the data port after an hour without an unlock. It has been cat and mouse ever since. In 2023 Grayshift merged with Canada's Magnet Forensics; the rival across the aisle is still Cellebrite.