Apple To Actively Fight Against Jailbreaking

How would you like to be a security manager for Apple? Apparently, it seems Apple has a brand new position to actively combat those who keep jailbreaking the iPhone and iPod Touch. Apple and AT&T have argued in the past that jailbreakers put extra load on AT&T’s wireless network. On a more important level, hackers who do manage to jailbreak the iPhone demonstrate the security issues that all of us iPhone owners could face on a daily basis. So it’s not a surprise to see Apple step up its effort and build a team just to combat these threats.

We have talked about how you can unlock and jailbreak your iPhone with BlackRa1n and Blacksn0w. While individuals may be able to take advantage of these to install software not approved by Apple on iPhone, these solutions do pose a threat to corporate networks. If you take Apple out of the loop and install third-party apps on your device, how could you tell whether you are not picking up a rogue app?

Here is how Apple described the position in its listing:

This position requires a very technical and hands-on leader, someone with a passion for understanding security exploits and coming up with innovative methods to create secure platforms

Will Apple manage to stay ahead of jailbreakers? Not very likely. No software system is foolproof, so as long as those top hackers are out there, there will always be a chance to jailbreak iPhone or iPod Touch. Jailbreak software itself is fairly harmless for your iPhone. If you follow the steps properly, you should be able to install it on your phone without no trouble. But those who have a worm on their iPhone are not that lucky.

A new worm, ikee, is targeting jailbroken iPhones. The creator of the worm has released multiple versions of this virus, so those who have not been too careful about what they put on their phone may be at risk. Unfortunately, you can expect to see more such attacks in the future. So if you do decide jailbreak your phone and install additional software packages on it, make sure you keep yourself secure by changing your passwords and avoid storing sensitive financial information on your phone.