Article by George Norman

On 06 Jul 2009

It was a few hours ago that we were reporting on the availability of purplera1n, the tool released by George Hotz to jailbreak the iPhone 3G S and put aside all the limitations the device comes with. Now If the fact that the purplera1n jailbreak tool is still in Beta is not enough to deter you, here is something that just might: security. According to security expert Charlie Miller, jailbroken iPhones are more vulnerable than non-jailbroken

And Charlie Miller should know what he is talking about. After all, he is credited for uncovering the security issue that spawned the first Google Android update, and he did manage to break the Apple developed Safari browser in about 10 seconds and this year’s PWN2OWN competition. Not to mention the fact that Charlie Miller is the one who uncovered the very serious SMS vulnerability in Apple’s iPhone that could allow a person with malicious intent to remotely install and run unsigned software code with root access on the device


According to Charlie Miller, whose official title is that of Principal Analyst with Independent Security Evaluators, jailbreaking the iPhone poses a security risk. While jailbreaking the device is a great way to use the iPhone’s full potential, it also means that you remove all the security protections that Apple built into the device’s software. You will be able to install 3rd party app and other software applications that are not distributed via the iTunes Store, but you will also leave your device wide open to all sorts of attacks.

“If you care about security, don’t use a jailbroken iPhone,” said Charlie Miller at the SyScan security conference in Singapore.

Here is one other reason why you might want to give up on jailbreaking: functionality. The iPhone 3G S, unlike other iPhone versions, supports all the features the iPhone OS 3.0 brings to the table. And the list of features is long, quite long:
- The option to cut, copy and paste
- Landscape mode for email, messages and notes
- MMS and tethering capability
- Enhanced Spotlight search that encompasses searching through your apps as well as your phone’s data
- Faster JavaScript
- P2P and 3rd party accessories support
- Push Notification.
- Downloadable movies and TV shows
- CalDAV support
- Compass
- Voice memos
- YouTube login
- Find my iPhone for paying MobileMe users
- Shake the iPhone/iPod Touch and a new track will star playing (useful for when you get tired with a track)
- InApp purchases
- Parental Controls
- Stereo Bluetooth
- Automatic WiFi login
- Encrypt iPhone backups in iTunes.
- Turn-by-turn directions.
- Forward meetings invites and contacts
- HTTP streaming audio and video
- Enhanced language support
- Form AutoFill in Safari



Tags: Apple, iPhone, Jailbreak, Security, Charlie Miller

I Hope you LIKE this blog post! Thank you!

What do YOU have to say about this

Popular News

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.