Locked iPhones Can Be Unlocked Without Password
snydeq writes "Private information stored in Apple's iPhone and protected by a lock code can be accessed by anyone with just a few button presses. Pressing the emergency call button at the unlock screen, followed by two taps on the home button, takes you to the iPhone's private 'favorites' page without the need to enter the unlock code, MacRumors user greenmymac has found. If the owner of the phone has favorite entries in their address book containing URLs, e-mail addresses or mobile phone numbers, then those entries can be used to launch the browser, mail application or SMS software, and gain access to private Web favorites, e-mail messages, and text messages stored in the phone, again without entering the unlock code."
This is nothing more than a nice backdoor left in there by apple so that they have constant access to your phone.
Yes, because when Apple wants to access my iPhone, they're going to come to my house, pick up the phone, and start pushing buttons....
This guy's the limit!
Actually all you need to do is call the iphone, then when the call ends you are back at the home screen unrestricted. On a slightly unrelated note most security articles seem to point out the obvious flaws instead of the clever ones (clearly the iphone lock function is only a slight deterrent)
That's interesting.
typical behavior when you realize you've lost your phone: Call it, and see if you can hear the ring.
Now when that happens, the person who stole it can answer and say "thanks for unlocking your phone!"
"I'm a Genius!"*
*Not an actual Genius
funny because thats not the case in normal phones. 3 pins wrong and your out, sure you might be able to get round it if you were a gang of phone thieves but with the iphone anybody can get round it and they dont even need your phone for that long
IranAir Flight 655 never forget!
If I had mod points I probably would have modded it 'Troll' as well. Not because I somehow love Apple products or own an iPhone and feel that need to justify my purchase but because the language in the post makes it seem as though the iPhone is only a kid's toy. Swap iPhone and Blackberry around and it's still a Troll, but he's just trolling a different audience. He could have made the exact same point by changing his wording and suggesting that this is a reason why he would not recommend using the iPhone in a business setting. Same message, but the language isn't anywhere near as inflammatory.
Can I assume whoever modded the comment 'insightful' has something against Apple and decided to take a shot at them rather than modding unbiased?
I've run into all kinds of "kiosk" applications on every platform where this kind of bug exists, from bulletin board systems using applications with shell escapes in the '70s and '80s through "telnet:" URLs in restricted freenix front ends to embedded browsers on dektop operating systems. You can also use similar tricks to get past Apple's kiosk attract mode on Macs in computer stores, an I've run into them in a number of PC vendor demo modes over the years.
When you build a sandbox you have to build it from the inside out. Never introduce anything to the sandbox unless you are absolutely certain that it doesn't have a backdoor. Not "unless you are certain you can close the backdoors"... sandbox programs have to be built around a model that "fails closed"... any action that increases privileges must require an explicit action from outside the program (such as installing a plugin). The amount of effort to build a sandbox out of components that default to an open mode and need to be "locked down" is so much greater that it's easier to reinvent the wheel than patch up the wrong kind of wheel to fit.
And the apologist proudly demonstrating he's no different.
Self proclaimed typo king, and inventor of the bear destroying coffee table (patent not pending).