Magnet Greykey Preserve

The pace of change in mobile technology is relentless and, with each new operating system release, digital investigators face ever-greater challenges to preserve and access critical evidence before it is lost. The recent introduction of inactivity reset timers in iOS and Android has turned this scenario into a true race against time: if a device remains locked for a period (for example, 72 hours on iOS), it automatically reboots, returns to the Before First Unlock (BFU) state and re-encrypts all user data, leaving even legally seized evidence inaccessible. Magnet Forensics

This time-based lock represents a concrete risk to investigations that depend on mobile data to establish communications, timelines, and intent. Simply waiting for a court order is no longer neutral — it can mean the permanent loss of vital evidence. Magnet Forensics

The solution: Magnet Graykey Preserve

Faced with this challenge, Magnet Forensics has developed Graykey Preserve, a tool designed specifically to lock the current state of a mobile device and protect the evidence before it disappears —without extracting data or violating user privacy. fulcrum.net.au

Graykey Preserve works by neutralizing the effect of reset timers and maintaining the device's accessible state (After First Unlock, AFU) for the time necessary for investigators to obtain a court order and proceed with a full extraction in the lab. This allows preserving data that would otherwise be lost due to automatic reboots or scheduled deletion of artifacts such as location logs, messages, or temporary files. Magnet Forensics+1

Unlike other tools, Graykey Preserve does not perform extractions or force passwords; its focus is exclusively to preserve. With this, it offers agencies a constitutional, controlled, and time-sensitive solution: the device is kept in its current state without displaying content, without extracting information, and without compromising privacy, thereby ensuring that the evidence remains intact until it can be formally analyzed. fulcrum.net.au

Why it matters now more than ever

In today's mobile forensic environment, data loss does not occur only from automatic reboots: internal system processes also delete artifacts over the course of days, even if the device is in airplane mode or isolated in a Faraday bag. Magnet Forensics

Magnet Graykey Preserve responds directly to this reality: it allows investigators and prosecutors to act within legal frameworks and without sacrificing the integrity of the evidence. By making immediate preservation a standard practice, the truth behind every case is protected — from establishing timelines to corroborating testimony — before the clock works against it.

Benefits of Magnet Greykey Preserve

• Dedicated solution for out-of-lab device preservation.
• Fast data preservation in approximately 5 minutes.
• Disables network connections, preventing remote updates and deletions.
• Maintains data privacy until extracted in the lab with GrayKey.
• No advanced actions required to perform data preservation.