Apple says iPhone jailbreak supports terrorists and drug dealers
By Will Park on Wednesday, July 29th, 2009 at 4:47 PM PST In Apple, Financial/Corporate News, Security, iPhone, iPhone OS
Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has fired another salvo against the iPhone jailbreaking scene with their claim that jailbroken iPhones could be used to attack and disable cell-towers, as well as helping drug dealers avoid getting pinched by the “fuzz.” In the ongoing battle between Apple and iPhone hackers, Apple would have us believe that iPhone hackers could levy “potentially catastrophic” cyber-attacks against wireless networks.
At issue is whether or not consumers have the right to jailbreak their iPhones, or any other mobile phone for that matter. The “jailbreak” refers to a process that frees a cellphone’s file-system, allowing the user to install third-party software that would otherwise be impossible. In the case of the iPhone, the jailbreak essentially hacks the security measures Apple has put in place to protect the iPhone’s operating system. Under the current version of The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998, “no person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title.” As it stands, the iPhone jailbreak violates the law of the land.
But, there’s hope yet for consumers. The Copyright Office takes requests every three years for exceptions to the DMCA, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation has put in a petition to allow consumers to jailbreak their handsets as they see fit. After all, once the consumer buys the device, it should be theirs to do with as they please.
Apple’s latest filing claims that the jailbreak gives hackers access to the iPhone’s baseband processor (BBP) code, which controls how the iPhone connects to cellular networks. With a little clever hacking, cyber-terrorists could send commands to a cell-tower that could leave it completely useless. Apple claims that allowing the jailbreak exemption to be approved is tantamount to giving hackers the keys that open the doors to cell-tower controls.
And, as if to hammer home the idea that jailbreaking is no good, Apple mentions that the jailbreak also allows an iPhone hacker to alter the handset’s identification number. That would allow the iPhone to make calls anonymously – which “would be desirable to drug dealers.”
Feel like sticking it to the “man” and jailbreaking your iPhone? Check out our iPhone 3GS jailbreak and unlock guide! (works with iPhone and iPhone 3G as well)
Find the EFF’s jailbreak petition here.
Find Apple’s original DMCA petition here.
[Via: Wired]
PLEASE STOP BUYING THIS COMPANIES PRODUCT. THEY HAD ALREADY GONE TOO FAR. NOW THEY HAVE CROSSED A LINE THEY CANNOT RETURN FROM. THIS IS RIDICULOUS. THEY ARE MAD THAT YOU WANT TO APPLICATION UNLOCK YOUR PHONE, SO YOU DONT NEED TO PAY THEM AND NOW THEY ARE GOINT TO ACCUSE YOU THEIR CUSTOMERS TERRORISTS BECAUSE YOU DONT WANT TO BE LOCKED TO THEM WITH YOUR DEVICE. CRY BABIES. PERIOD. TAKE A LOOK AT EBAY FOR SOME CELLULAR TOWER EQUIPMENT, AMPLIFIERS, ANTENNAS. BUT A LOW POWER DEVICE LIKE A CELL PHONE IS A SECURITY RISK THAT WILL ALLOW SOMEONE TO LEVERAGE A CELL TOWER. GET REAL.
APPLE IS FOR 4TH GRADERS AKA FISHER PRICE
NOW THEY ARE DICTATORS TOO
STOP BUYING THEIR PROPRIETARY PRODUCTS
GET A WINDOWS MOBILE PHONE
USE YOUR PHONE THE WAY THAT YOU WANT TOO
YOU WONT NEED APPLES PERMISSION TO USE YOUR EQUIPMENT
AND YOU WONT NEED THEIR APP STORE EITHER
With ATT strong-arming Apple to remove Google Voice apps from the appstore, they are forcing users who want to use this telephony and lifestyle changing technology to jailbreak.
Oh wait, Jailbreak isn’t about protecting the iPhone from the world but about protecting the world from the iPhone!
We must help protect Apple’s profits- rat out those ‘evildoers’ who jailbreak iPhones.
I run Linux on my iPod.
Sounds to me like Apple is making excuses. If a compromised device is able to send signals to the tower that is a network security issue, not an individual device issue.
I ANY device other than a properly authorized administrator can do send that kind of signal to the tower, then the system has severe issues and jailbreaked phones is the least of their worries.