Josh Centers talks through USB Restricted Mode, the politics of opening a backdoor into iOS, and the mechanics of breaking into an iPhone via the Lightning port.
Bottom line:
If USB Restricted Mode isn’t causing you any trouble, leave it on. Although it doesn’t offer complete protection against an alert attacker who can get access to your device quickly, it’s not worthless. Once your device has been locked for more than 60 minutes, nothing we know of can crack it.
Just one more reason why I’d be highly reluctant to leave the Apple ecosystem.
Worth pointing out: USB Restricted Mode is GOOD, but not perfect. There is still that one hour window of vulnerability.
Pair-locking your phone is still the single best method to protect your phone from violations. The necessary software from Apple is free, not terribly difficult, and when you are pair-locked your phone will NOT recognize any connection to the USB port that is not your own computer. Not the Greyshift box, not the Cellebrite box, nothing. The port is logically non-existent to those devices.
Restricted Mode is great for your parents, grandparents, etc. and should be activated for any “super basic can’t remember how to do things from day to day” users. But if you care about security and your rights to privacy, pair-lock your phone.