Hackers Have Deciphered Apple's Secure Enclave Security Chip

A hacker with the pseudonym Xerub revealed the decryption key for Apple's Secure Enclave Processor (SEP) security chip.

Hackers Have Deciphered Apple's Secure Enclave Security Chip Overview

This leak (confirmed by an Apple employee) is very important for iOS's security system because it allows hackers and researchers to secure access to previously-encrypted iOS components.

SEP Handles Touchid Operations and Some iOS Codes

Apple describes SEP in the official security guide as a separate processor located next to the main CPU. This SEP processor runs its own low-end operating system, has an update process, a separate boot system and uses only encrypted memory simultaneously including the hardware random number generator (RNG) by itself.

According to information from Apple, SEP began to be deployed from the processors of Apple S2, Apple A7 and later A-series and was used to process data by encryption, then used used to verify TouchID transactions.

On Wednesday, Xerub announced the SEP firmware protection encryption key. You can get the key from here.

The publicly available SEP decryption key will allow hackers, monitoring companies and many others to analyze and search for bugs in iOS devices that they did not previously have access to.

New exploits can be developed without the need for fingerprint verification steps to access locked devices or to approve "illegal" financial transactions through payment solutions such as Apple Pay and other Other provisions.

The decoding of this security chip may sound serious but your data will still be safe. According to Apple, users do not need to worry too much about this issue.

Security note: Threat conditions and vendor guidance can change. Install current updates and verify any advisory with the official vendor before taking action.