Guide To Building a Cable That Improves iOS Exploits 184
mask.of.sanity writes "An Aussie network engineer has published a guide to building a serial cable connector that allows access to a secret kernel debugger hidden within Apple iOS. The debugger was a dormant iOS feature carried over from Apple OS, and seems to serves no function other than to allow hackers to build better exploits. The cable needs an external power source and a jailbroken device to access the debugger." We've mentioned Pollock's serial adapter kit before, modulo the kernel debugging abilities.
Chicken and Egg? (Score:4, Insightful)
Wait... so in order to use the cable to find exploits, you need a jailbroken device. But in order to jailbreak your device, you need to first find an exploit.
* Yes, I do know that there are other ways to find exploits...
Re:Having to jail break your own freaking phone (Score:2, Insightful)
I'm sure having record year over year profits is so short sighted. :) Even over a year after the iPhone 4 came out, it's still outselling individual phones from the likes of HTC and Samsung.
People want products they can use now, not products they might be able to get to work with some hacking.
I'm amazed geeks DO NOT GET IT.
At all.
Re:Having to jail break your own freaking phone (Score:5, Insightful)
Even over a year after the iPhone 4 came out, it's still outselling individual phones from the likes of HTC and Samsung.
Its not such a good comparison. Here's why. You use a smartphone to run certain programs on it (or to look good or whatever).
If you want an Android phone, you have tons of choice. Most of them will run the same software, and so you just choose your price range or whatever.
If you want an iOS phone you basically either buy second hand, or buy the current iPhone.
So the iPhone isn't better than 'individual' phones, its just the only choice you have if you want iOS
Re:Having to jail break your own freaking phone (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:when i think back to years gone by (Score:4, Insightful)
I remember the days when apple play commercials claiming their OS don't get virus's, malware, etc.
That was in the old days when major Windows applications required you to run as administrator, when mail messages could silently install software and an unpatched XP machine connected to the internet would be infected before you had a chance to download the patches. Win 7 has done a lot to reduce that, which may by why Apple dropped the ads...
An iOS exploit that requires physical access to the machine, a custom cable and only works on a machine which has already been jailbroken (i.e. deliberately cracked by the legitimate user) isn't exactly in the same league as the sort of remote pwnage seen on PCs in the Bad Old Days.