Hackers Dissect The iPhone
By Christopher Nickson
July 05, 2007
Hackers and security companies have been tearing apart the tech world's newest toy, the iPhone, to check and bypass its security.
It should be no surprise, but hackers and security experts have been tearing the iPhone apart in attempts to discover flaws.
Since its release last Friday, the device has been pored over, primarily to find a way to hack the code that binds the iPhone to AT&T. Once successful – and a successful hack is expected this week – the iPhone could be used on any network.
There have already been successful attempts to activate the phone without going the legal route of registering it with AT&T via iTunes.
Researchers have already identified a flaw in the phone’s Safari browser (actually the same one discovered in a version of Safari designed to run on Windows). Errata Security found the problem, which could allow hackers some control over the phone. However, overall the company is quite satisfied with the device, especially the feature that allows it to receive updates when connected to iTunes.
“We think the iPhone is inherently more secure than competing smartphones - such as those based on Windows Mobile or Symbian,” wrote Errata chief executive Robert Graham.
One hacker, Jon Lech Johansen, has an iPhone activation tool posted on his site. It will allow the handset to work as an iPod and other things, but not as a phone.
The degree to which the eager have gone to unearth the iPhone’s secrets have been remarkable. Ifixit.com has a series of pictures of the innards, along with detailed notes. Others haven’t been quite so precise. A video posted on YouTube, which has already been seen 300,000 times, shows two people dismantling the phone – which retails for several hundred dollars – with a hammer.