Locked iPhones Can Be Unlocked Without Password 102
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."
Re:Back door anyone? (Score:5, Insightful)
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....
Re:The easier and more complete way (Score:3, Insightful)
clearly the iphone lock function is only a slight deterrent
Exactly, I think everyone at Slashdot knows that if someone has physical access to your hardware, you've already lost the security game.
Re:The easier and more complete way (Score:5, Insightful)
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!"
Re:This just in (Score:5, Insightful)
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
Re:not really surprising (Score:5, Insightful)
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?
This is a classic sandbox bug. (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:CALL OUT THE DOGS (Score:5, Insightful)
One question: Why only 4 digit pin? (Score:3, Insightful)
This is the 21st century. I can understand defaulting to 4 digit pin, but why can't I choose a longer pin? My gf's Blackberry allows you to enter a much longer string. I have over a 6 digit pin for my ATM card. Why exactly does Apple force people to only have a 4 digit pin for the phone?
Re:The easier and more complete way (Score:4, Insightful)
Exactly, I think everyone at Slashdot knows that if someone has physical access to your hardware, you've already lost the security game.
I don't know if that applies to the Blackberry family. 10 tries and the phone wipes itself out to factory settings only to be recovered by the enterprise BES server. Haven't read a whole lot about holes in that strategy.
Re:The easier and more complete way (Score:4, Insightful)
Not really, blackberry seems pretty good at it.
Lame... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:not really surprising (Score:3, Insightful)
Swap iPhone and Blackberry around and it's still a Troll, but he's just trolling a different audience.
... except, the way he said it, it is true.
When you turn it around, the way you say it, it is trolling.
Re:One question: Why only 4 digit pin? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:This just in (Score:3, Insightful)
Obviously you've never had a BlackBerry, where 10 wrong login attempts will cause the device to wipe itself out. And all memory contents are - afiak - encrypted even if you manage to take the damned thing apart and connect directly to the flash chips.
Re:not really surprising (Score:4, Insightful)
My goodness the trolls are out in force today. Hopefully the meta-moderation fixes trolls with mod points, but nothing is perfect.
The original claim essentially says that the iPhone is only for rich kids who have too much money on their hands and isn't good for business use at all. If you have an opinion, that's perfectly fine, but expressing it in such an inflamatory manner generally isn't; or at least it's frowned upon in polite, formal discussion.
At least it's not surprising coming from your user name.
Reading out "secure" blackberry data... (Score:4, Insightful)
Reading out "secure" blackberry data...
What's the model number? From that I can tell you whether or not I have a JTAG, or would have to borrow one from a friend. With a JTAG I can keep it from wiping itself and do anything with your data I want.
If it's an 8000 series (not including the 8707), then it's a ARMv5TE PXA900, which is pretty easy to hack.
Just because your average idiot can't hack something doesn't mean that it's magically unhackable. The value in the device is in the data it contains, not in the cost of the hardware.
-- Terry