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Adjacent topic but i have a friend who told me buying a refurbished iPhone from a local shop was a bad idea from a security perspective.

Is this true? I thought a hard reset and secure enclave etc. was enough? Can you put "stuff" in it that survives to a new user?

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Theoretically yes. However, the chance of you encountering a second hand device with such an implant is relatively low I'd say.

I guess if you buy it off journalists or activists the chance would be higher but still relatively unlikely. But as with anything, consider if it suits your threat model and act accordingly.

Exploits that survive a full wipe are almost unheard of on iOS.

hardware modifications definitely can. A few years ago I've read ([0] - the article is in russian but google translate does its job) about hardware bugs installed in iphones - with a mic and an own SIM card, everything is powered from the phone's battery.

[0] https://service-iphone.ru/blog/proslushka-v-iphone-teper-bez...

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