Vulnerabilities In The Apple iPhoneVulnerabilities In The Apple iPhone

Apple has two recently discovered vulnerabilities that can put user data at risk. One is implemented by a developer that has accessed a backdoor to transmit user data back to its servers without Apple's or the user's knowledge. The other is an exploit in the wild that logs in with root access. Just as Windows' popularity on the desktop has made it the target of hackers and unscrupulous software developers, it seems the iPhone's popularity has made it a target as well.First up is the software developer issue. Storm8 develops apps and sells them through the App Store. Their software is insanely popular. They claim over twenty million downloads and five of their games are in the App Store Top 50 list. The only information software sellers in the App Store are supposed to have about their users is what the user specifically gives them through a registration process or what they input into the app. Apple doesn't share any user data with the developers and on the device, the apps are sandboxed to prevent them from accessing user data on the phone, such as the phone number.

There is a backdoor though that will let an app out of the sandbox. Apparently Storm8 has been using this backdoor to collect wireless phone numbers of its users. When this was brought to their attention, they claimed it was an "oversight" and are grateful for having this unfortunate situation brought to their attention. Now, I am not a developer, but I have messed around with Visual Basic. I fail to see how one could introduce a "bug" into a piece of software that accidentally used an unauthorized backdoor to collect and transmit data to the home server. To me, that sounds like a lot of code. Evidentially others feel the same way and are attempting to elevate this issue to a class action lawsuit. You can read the entire complaint in PDF here.

In other news, there is a worm in the wild scanning IP addresses of mobile networks in Australia. When it hits a 3G device, it assumes it is an iPhone and attempts to gain root access. A normal iPhone shouldn't be vulnerable to this, but jailbroken iPhones usually are because they run SSH, which is how this worm gains access. If the worm is successfully, it disables SSH to prevent any competition from getting on the phone, copies a number of files to the phone and changes the background.

Just as Windows itself isn't necessarily more or less vulnerable than any other OS to malware or viruses, it is often targeted. The iPhone's popularity makes it a juicy target in the mobile world. Defending yourself against issues like the Storm8 hack is difficult. You generally trust a process Apple has put in place to protect its users' information. Protecting yourself from worms like the one above are a bit easier. I understand the desire to jailbreak your device, but in doing so, you bypass many of the safeguards Apple has in place. It is one thing to have a software developer break the rules and sneak one by Apple in its submission. It is quite another to expose your device to hackers all over the world to probe your machine and try to load code.

Just like on your PC, take precautions and if you do choose to run a jailbroken iPhone, at least disable SSH. I don't know what other vulnerabilities a jailbroken phone has, so you might want to be very careful about what confidential data you store on a jailbroken phone.