Hackers Find Remote iPhone Crack

Al writes "Two researchers have found a way to run unauthorized code on an iPhone remotely. This is different than 'jailbreaking,' which requires physical access to the device. Normally applications have to be signed cryptographically by Apple in order to run. But Charles Miller of Independent Security Evaluators and Vincenzo Iozzo from the University of Milan found more than one instance in which Apple failed to prevent unauthorized data from executing. This means that a program can be loaded into memory as a non-executable block of data, after which the attacker can essentially flip a programmatic switch and make the data executable. The trick is significant, say Miller and Iozzo, because it provides a way to do something on a device after making use of a remote exploit. Details will be presented next month at the Black Hat Conference in Las Vegas." The attack was developed on version 2.0 of the iPhone software, and the researchers don't know if it will work when 3.0 is released.

Comments

Is this good news.

[jellomizer]

Does that mean if we go to the "wrong" web site we can enable Wi-Fi tethering without have to pay extra?

Re:Is this good news.

[Anonymous Coward]

Only if you want to risk losing your service. Tethering without a tethering plan is a violation of AT&T's terms of use. It seems to me that it would be pretty easy to detect. For instance, they could check your browser agent information when you make HTTP requests. They could also look for connections over known ports that would imply you're not on a phone (such as a WoW connection). It seems there are several ways AT&T could spot that you're using a tethered connection without paying for it. So even if you can enable it, it would probably be best not to unless you're interested in potentially losing your phone service.

Misleading Title/Summary

[forand]

The title and summary are very misleading. The exploit is to run unauthorized code. They have not presented an injection path. While this is not good it is not as bad as having a "Remote iPhone Crack."

Re:Phone Viruses

[Anonymous Coward]

Might this be the dawn of the first "apple virus" that all Mac users claim will never happen? :-)

Re:Dumbing down the text...

[jellomizer]

My experience with dealing with geeks seem to show me that the distribution of intelligence is about on par with the rest of the population, in its normal distribution. We like to see our selfs better then everyone else but that really isn't the case.

I have found that people who are on the manufacturing floor of a factory are just as likely to pick up an abstract explanation as a geek would. Sure geeks have memorized some terms and vocabulary however for the most part their ability to understand is about the same as everyone else.
Conversely there are a lot of people who know things that it is difficult for me to comprehend who are not geeks about the same amount who are geeks.

You analogy is off. Because geeks are a sub-culture Nobel Prise Winners are people who won an award for their excellence.
What does it take to be a geek. Watch a lot of Star Trek, or Sci-Fi, Read Comic Books, Write code (I was able to do then when I was 6 years old) none of this requires a high intelligence, to preform at some level.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Phone Viruses

[Krneki]

Isn't this the same for the whole Windows Vs Mac flame war? Design vs functionality, where security is the last concern.