With all the hubbub going on about a cracking the iPhone’s passcode easily through a bug in v2.0.2 of the device’s firmware, I thought I’d speak a little about the methods surrounding passcode cracking, especially in light of the fact that passcode cracking for the iPhone has been around for much longer than the most recent firmware version. The method that’s been gaining a lot of press lately seems to have only been doing so because it’s much easier for your kid brother to do, but passcodes can actually be cracked in every version of iPhone software to-date. I’ve documented the method for cracking both v1.x and v2.x passcodes in my latest book, iPhone Forensics, which will be on store shelves 9/12, and can be read online as well.
Archive for August, 2008
iPhone Passcode Crack Tip of the Iceberg
Wednesday, August 27th, 200810 Reasons to Violate Apple’s NDA
Friday, August 1st, 2008NOTE: I am not a lawyer, and the below is by no means legal advice, or advice of any kind, but my mere opinion on the subject. Laws differ from country to country, and the statements made below are made soley on the ethical beliefs of the author. The author takes no responsibility in the actions of others in following this advice, or in any consequences that may or may not ensue.
It’s been a personal decision of mine to steer clear of Apple’s SDK and stick with open development. There were many reasons for this, such as being able to write better software, but one of the key reasons was Apple’s NDA, which I anticipated would be around for “as long as it took” to get patents filed in every country in the world. The NDA surrounding the SDK imposes a draconian set of restrictions on developers, preventing them from collaborating in any way with other developers, or even sharing their source code – effectively extinguihing creativity, knowledge, and open source development, the foundation of which is community participation. Unfortunately, many of my brothers in development were not as smart and have sold their souls to Steve for the “privilege” of writing software for his AppStore system. Given that I have been writing iPhone software since about a year before the AppStore came about, I like to think that I have the ability to look at Apple’s NDA with slightly more objectivity than most. After all, what is being protected as a trade secret is really a copy of what the open source community built in August 2007 – an online software repository, a set of development tools, and a community of developers. Perhaps this alone was embarrassing enough to want to keep everyone quiet.
TSA in Airports: The New Concentration Camps?
Friday, August 1st, 2008I recently read one of several articles today about the TSA mulling over the outright ban of lawful carrying of firearms in vehicles and insecure areas of America’s airports, even when state law permits such carrying. This has got me wondering just how far our TSA is willing to exceed their boundaries to bolster their status. It seems as though the TSA has a history of extending their authority from that of the simple bag checkers we hired them for, to being some type of elite law enforcement branch, and they’re willing to turn our airports into concentration camps to do it. If that sounds familiar, it’s because the ATF tried – and succeeded – in doing the same thing back in the 1980s, and was almost dismantled by the Reagan administration for it.