The latest news on the iPhone hacking front is that Jon Lech Johansen, who was the first person to crack DVD encryption, has released a Windows utility called the “iPhone Activation Server,” that allows you to activate your phone without iTunes, AT&T or a credit card.
The major caveat is that an iPhone activated this way isn’t really a phone. The iPod and WiFi work, but you can’t stick in a Tmobile SIM and use it on their network. At least not yet. Still, this is a huge step because it shows that people have figured out how to crack the activation handshake. It should also come in handy for those wanting to test their web applications with the iPhone without shelling out for an AT&T contract.
Further work continues on other fronts, including work at the OS level to allow arbitrary code (ie 3rd party applications) to run on the device. This may also provide a path to enable the iPhone’s use on other American and Global GSM networks. A big step in this direction came last night when someone cracked the encryption on the system restore disk image, allowing them access to the full virgin iPhone filesystem, and the chance to scan system files looking for other attack vectors.
[04:19] <Omikron> Second, the encrypted 39.dmg image was recently cracked, and the contents of the system files have been dumped.
The files are currently being explored for additional information and possible attack vectors.
Other coverage:
- The Guardian UK
- Wired Blogs
- So Sue Me — Jon’s blog: currently offline due to exceeding it’s resource quota (google cache copy)
- Engadget
- The Register
- Into Mobile
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