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iPhone, iPod Touch 1.1.1 Firmwares Jailbroken

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the pat-yourselves-on-the-back dept.

vertigoCiel writes "Hackers Niacin and Dre have recently gained full read and write access to the filesystems of both the iPhone and the iPod Touch. The Jailbreak exploits a vulnerability in Safari's TIFF library to execute the necessary code when the specially crafted image is loaded. Access can then be permanently sustained by modifying the fstab file with iPhuc"

7 of 347 comments (clear)

  1. Makes me wonder by Dunbal · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I wonder if Apple are going to keep playing "cat and mouse", and try to bring legal action to bear against these "vile hackers", or if they're going to take the hint that you can't stop us all? Clearly there's a demand for unlocked iPhones.

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    1. Re:Makes me wonder by Reality+Master+101 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      But they're not under any obligation to prevent third party applications. That's just greed. They want to eventually sell only licensed third party apps.

      --
      Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
    2. Re:Makes me wonder by Red+Flayer · · Score: 3, Interesting

      They are under legal obligation to maintain their firmware so that the phones can't be used on other networks for another 5 years.
      Not quite -- they are under contractual obligation, which is something quite different.

      Would AT&T have legal recourse if Apple didn't fulfill its obligation? Yes.

      Would Apple face prosecution for violating the law if it didn't fulfill the obligation? No.

      And as a matter of fact, legal obligations supercede contractual obligations. For example, in some countries, it is debated whether Apple is legally allowed to exclude other service providers.

      or that they should break their contract with AT&T which could make every iPhone out there useless overnight unless it is hacked?
      Oh, right... like AT&T would actually stop providing hugely profitable service to iPhones. They'd continue to provide service to iPhone owners, they'd just also sue Apple.
      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    3. Re:Makes me wonder by Richard_at_work · · Score: 4, Interesting
      I currently have an O2 contract phone (W810i - very pleased with both phone and network) and my contract is coming up for renewal at about the same time as the iPhone will be released. As you can guess, my decision is now slightly more complicated:

      • iPhone for £269.00 and 18 month contract for £35 a month:
        • 200 minutes and 200 texts a month
        • Unlimited (within reason) data
        • Free wifi access at the Cloud access points
      • N95 for free and 18 month contract for £30 a month:
        • 400 minutes and 200 texts a month
        • Better featured phone
        • 200MB data a month for extra £7.50 a month or unlimited data for an extra £30 a month

      The iPhone deal comes to £899 total and the N95 deal comes to £675.

      Quite frankly, the *only* reason the iPhone is even still in the running is because of the inclusive data and wifi at the moment - and even then I am still heavily leaning toward the N95 with the 200MB data allowance.

      Thoughts?
    4. Re:Makes me wonder by geeknado · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Apple made a conscious choice to /not/ support third party apps when they failed to provide a development API for the iPhone. Most companies are "greedy", in that they need to make money to satisfy investors, and Apple's no exception. However, I'm not sure that's their primary focus here...Apple likes to maintain a user experience monopoly with its own devices...That "Experience" factor(it just works, etcetc) is key to their whole marketing strategy. In the OS world, they can't compete without supporting 3rd party apps...Computers are expected to be extensible. Phones, however, are a completely different story, and many are, in fact, locked down.

      The trap they've fallen into, of course, is that their direct competition at the price point typically /does/ allow 3rd party apps, so people are understandably resentful.

      One thing that I think is particularly interesting about all of this is the tendancy for people to point a finger at AT&T about this particular issue. Based on some of the other smartphones on their network, I'd be surprised if the lack of supported 3rd party apps at this stage is /really/ attributable to them, although it's certainly the excuse that's been given out from a PR perspective. AT&T clearly supports 3rd party apps on other phones...Why not this one?

      AT&T clearly has every reason in the world to care about whether or not these phones stay locked to their network, of course...That's money in their pockets. That may in fact be why these phones are actually being bricked. But the third party app thing? That's a little more complicated, imo.

  2. Keep your stuff updated.. by comm2k · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Apparently they used the same vulnerability to hack the PSP.

  3. Not a long term solution by uglydog · · Score: 4, Interesting

    according to the article since the TIFF exploit can be patched. I understand it's a "cat and mouse game", but I was wondering why there can't be a more permanent solution, like creating an image that can be restored using the iTunes Restore function.

    This is great news and I'd like to know how do you get started learning how to hack the iPhone? I found stuff that explains how the jail breaking works, but not how it was discovered or what was tried, etc. Blogs, logs, etc would be cool.