August 13, 2010 by Andre Jackson
iPhone users have been placed in an ethical dilemma this week, following Apple’s development and introduction of a new patch for iPhones, iPads, and the iPod Touch. The patch has been devised in order to prevent users from using the ‘JailbreakMe’ application on their Apple products.
The patch has been issued despite a statement by US authorities which stated that it was perfectly legal to ‘jailbreak’ their phones. ‘Jailbreaking’ refers to the exploitation of a vulnerability in Apple devices which enables people to unlock their security features in order to run unauthorised applications. The JailbreakMe application works by exploiting a bug in the Apple mobile Safari browser, which handled PDF files improperly. The bug enabled users to download applications by ‘piggybacking’ on the flawed PDF management approach.
The JailbreakMe application has been widely adopted by users to run utilities, applications and add-ons that have not been approved officially by Apple. Unofficial applications are supplied by Cydia and other providers. The JailbreakMe programme is triggered when users visit a specific website.
This latest patch issued from Apple will stop JailBreakMe from working, and will tighten up security in Apple devices through the risk of exploitation. This gives Apple users a moral dilemma. Do they accept that they should not be jailbreaking their devices for unauthorised software, thereby protecting against malicious attacks, or do they continue to benefit from this legal activity? The patch which has been issued is optional, not mandatory.
A security analyst from Sophos commented: “It remains to be seen, of course, how many iPhone and iPad users decide to install this security patch. Some may be delighting in their newly-jailbroken gadget. Leaving the vulnerability unpatched would be a foolish move. It would be relatively trivial for a malicious hacker to exploit it, and cause a problem on your shiny Apple gear.”
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