Bypass IPhone password screen to make calls
Apply a lock to your iPhone, and it’ll ask you for a four-digit passcode. However, it’ll also let you make an emergency call. Go into the menu to dial the emergency number, perform a quick double-click on the ‘home’ button, and your phone’s favorites menu will appear.
Not only that, if you’ve changed the settings then whatever you’ve applied to the double tap action will pop open.
The gigantic security flaw lets unauthorised users call any number they like from your phone.
If that wasn’t bad enough, the second one is even worse: if you tap on the blue arrows next to the names, it will give you full access to the private information in a favorite entry. And it goes downhill from there:
• If you click in a mail address, it will give you full access to the Mail application. All your mail will be exposed.
• If there’s a URL in your contact (or in a mail message) you can click on it and have full access to Safari.
• If you click on send text message in a contact, it will give you full access to all your SMS.
For what it’s worth, a company spokeswoman is quick to point out that the flaw can easily be hidden by changing the home button double-click functionality to take you to the home screen, but most users don’t know that, now do they?
on May 19th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
Very informative post! Normally I don’t comment on blogs but this post deserves it 😀