I recently did a forensics webinar about cracking the iPhone’s passcode, in which I demonstrated some of the techniques from my latest book. I cited the fact that the iPhone takes screen grabs every time you push the home button, so that the 3D “zoom” effect can be processed when the application zooms in and out, when suspending and resuming applications. Many people asked me if there was a way to disable this writing to disk, so that screenshots couldn’t be recovered forensically. I did some further digging and found that the screenshots themselves actually get written to /var/mobile/Library/Caches/Snapshots. If you delete this folder and symlink it to /dev/null, the screenshots don’t get written to disk. The side effect to this is that when resuming an application, you’ll get the default screen in the zoom-in effect. Once the application resumes, however, you’ll have your application screen back. For example, your mail application will always zoom to the front as if you had an empty inbox, but will quickly correct itself once the application resumes. On a jailbroken iPhone, you can disable these screenshots with the following commands:
Archive for September, 2008
Plugging the iPhone Screenshot Leak
Saturday, September 20th, 2008How HIPAA Destroyed my Dad’s Health
Monday, September 1st, 2008I don’t normally write about such personal topics as family illnesses, but it is my hope that those who have gone through a similarly dark cooridor in their life – whether as a result of government control, or just plain ignorant doctors – would know that they are not alone in such frustrations, and to explain to the general oblivious public and incompetent lawmakers the consequences of their actions.
The Truth About the Bailout
Monday, September 1st, 2008Our congress is planning a vote on what they dub an “emergency bailout” plan, to save America from a fiscal meltdown. To most, however, it feels as more of a bailout for the rich – a ponzi scheme that lands at every American’s doorstep as an increase in taxes to pay off big corporate America … as if they haven’t already stolen enough from the consumer. In spite of the efforts of thiefs in congress, such as Judd Gregg, Many senators have reported a 200:1 ratio of people calling in against the plan as opposed to for. A majority of the American people seem to understand what this really is: an attempt to save the bad investments of the rich, so they don’t starve for their bad decisions. It’s a complex web of lies, and so I’ll try to explain exactly what’s happening to steal your dollars: