Patent Shows How Apple Might Brick Your Jailbroken iPhone

Aug 22 by Toby Leftly | 4 comments

Jailbreaking your iPhone, iPod or iPad might now be legal in some areas of the world, but Apple still ain’t happy about it.

A new patent shows how Apple might one day be able to detect and disable compromised devices.

The patent, which is elaborate and lengthy, posits that devices which are lost, stolen or hacked are a risk to users peace of mind, and for this reason Apple hopes to kindly disable the hacks or even brick the device.

The source of the issue is that while users may choose to hack their device, the jailbreak methods are all essentially taking advantage of security flaws. Apple views jailbreaks as a weakness, a vulnerability to be patched.

According to an analytics and tracking firm, the number of jailbroken iPhones out there is fewer than 10%, but as jailbreaking becomes easier and more accepted by regular users, that number will rise.

Few people would argue that Apple should be able to remotely access and disable your device, but the fact remains, jailbroken devices that exist on a huge wireless network pose a huge security threat to Apple, AT&T and users.

The cat and mouse game between jailbreakers and Apple will continue, but will the iPhone 5 be jailbreak-proof?

WRITTEN BY TOBY LEFTLY

Toby is a Mac nerd, a hardware nerd and a web nerd, rolled into one. You can find him at accentmedia.ca or on Twitter.

COMMENTS
  • MIchael

    If Apple gave their customers what they actually wanted and needed we wouldn’t be jailbreaking our iPhones. The primary reason I jailbroke my iPhone was because even after all these OS updates there is no repeat notification of a missed call. I had that feature on my lowly razor and relied on getting back to my clients by being reminded that I had missed a call. I disagree that jailbroken iPhones constitute a HUGE security risk. ATT has already shown that mediocre security of software running on their servers poses a greater risk. Hacked cell phones may harm individual users but it has yet to be shown that they constitute a risk to the network at large.

  • Eric Hadze

    ROCK (200,000,000 B.C)
    Can receive standard delivery notifications for SMS’s: NO
    Can be used as a standard flash drive: NO
    Can be used to exchange data using the standard Bluetooth file transfer protocol: NO
    Touchscreen user interface: NO

    iPhone 4G (2010 A.D)
    Can receive standard delivery notifications for SMS’s: NO
    Can be used as a standard flash drive: NO
    Can be used to exchange data using the standard Bluetooth file transfer protocol: NO
    Touchscreen user interface: YES

    All these are artificial restrictions imposed by apple. I mean if they can’t incorporate the most common features found in dumb phones from over a decade ago into their “smart” iphones, you have to start questioning their intelligence. So I will jailbreak. and apple can go screw themselves. they can’t do squat to me.

  • Tom

    So I buy an ice cream cone with cash right?
    its my property now and I can eat it.
    -so I decide I want to freeze it to make icecream bars out of it. I can do that because it is my property.
    So mcdonald cannot put anti-freeze in my cones because they feel it should be eaten at there restaurant.

    So I buy an itouch with cash right?
    Its now my property.
    -So i decide I don’t like the apple firmware (cause it sucks and limits us), I jailbreak it because ITS MY PROPERTY. Not theres.
    So Apple cannot brick my ipod just because they want me to only use there firmware.

    I detect socialism and a hint a of fascism comming from apple.

    ALL BOW TO LORD JOBS!
    (apple can kiss my constitutional rights and bend over so I can shove the 1st amendment up there hinny.)

  • Paul

    DROID!