Whoops! iPhone passcode bypass a cinch

By Stephen Withers
Thursday, 28 August 2008 02:27

Mobility

Did you think putting a passcode lock on your iPhone would help keep your personal information safe as well as stopping people from using the phone without permission? Well think again because it turns out that the iPhone is as easy to crack as a soft shelled peanut.

If you have a tendency to leave your iPhone laying around, the bad news is that it's easily circumvented. The most amazing thing about the trick (you couldn't call it a hack) is that it wasn't uncovered sooner. This is "easy" as in "so easy that anyone picking up the phone could do it."

Actually, that could be the second most amazing thing, after the fact that the flaw exists in the current software, but more on that later.

This is how it works.

When faced with the passcode entry screen, tap Emergency Call and then double-tap the Home button. That takes you to Favorites.

As long as there's at least one contact in Favorites, you're in. Tap the blue arrow to get into the address book, and from there you can get to Safari by tapping the contact's home page, Mail by tapping their email address, and so on.

Once you're in those applications, you can use them freely, for example to visit any web site, or to examine stored SMSes. You can also reach the dial pad.

It's often said that once an attacker has physical access to a device, then all bets are off. Perhaps, but it's not supposed to be that easy.

So what can you do about it? See page two.