Summary
It can crack your smartphone password in seconds, rip personal data from call and messaging apps, and peruse your contact book.
The China International Exhibition on Police Equipment is something of a one-stop shop for China's police forces looking to arm up with the latest in "black tech" – a term widely used to refer to cutting-edge surveillance gadgets.
Beijing-based Hisign Technology said its desktop and portable phone scanners can retrieve even deleted data from over 90 mobile applications on smart phones, including overseas platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
At the Beijing fair, several firms told Reuters they could crack four-digit passwords on platforms ranging from iOS 6 to iOS 8.1, and were working to break through security of the latest iOS 10 platform.
SURVEILLANCE WEBChinese authorities are targeting a nationwide surveillance network, leveraging off tools made by companies like Hisign to compile data gleaned from smartphones and cameras into an online database of its near 1.4 billion people.
Pwnzen Infotech, a firm backed by Qihoo 360, a cybersecurity specialist, was another scanner maker at the fair who talked up its system's ability to get data from overseas platforms.
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