Apple
applies for patent to kill jailbroken devices
Apple is apparently ramping up its
battle to prevent iPhone and iPod owners from jailbreaking their
devices.
The company has applied for a patent, titled "Systems and Methods for
Identifying Unauthorized Users of an Electronic Device," that covers a
series of security measures to automatically protect devices from
thieves and other "unauthorized users." Unauthorized users apparently
applies to those who engage in jailbreaking, which allows devices to
run apps not approved by the company producing the operating
system--such as Apple, the main target of such bypasses.
The application, which was filed in February 2009 and published
Thursday, describes measures to identify "particular activities that
may indicate suspicious behavior," so that "safety measures" can be
taken to restrict the device's functions. Those activities include the
"hacking, jailbreaking, unlocking, or removal of a SIM card," according
to the application. Apple also intends to send warnings to owners via
e-mail or text message when such activity is detected.
The application also describes a variety of measures that could be used
to help identify the unauthorized user, including the activation of a
camera that could capture and geotag the device's surroundings, and
perhaps current user, and transmit that information to a remote device:
In some embodiments, an unauthorized user can
be detected by comparing the identity of the current user to the
identities of authorized users of the electronic device. For example, a
photograph of the current user can be taken, a recording of the current
user's voice can be recorded, the heartbeat of the current user can be
recorded, or any combination of the above. The photograph, recording,
or heartbeat can be compared, respectively, to a photograph, recording,
or heartbeat of authorized users of the electronic device to determine
whether they match. If they do not match, the current user can be
detected as an unauthorized user.
When unauthorized use has been detected, "access to particular
applications can be restricted, access to sensitive information can be
restricted, sensitive information can be erased from the electronic
device...," the application states, effectively wiping and bricking the
device.
Apple representatives did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
In July, U.S. Copyright Office ruled that bypassing a manufacturer's
protection mechanisms to allow "handsets to execute software
applications" no longer violates federal copyright law. However, while
the U.S. Copyright Office has declared the software legal, Apple has
repeatedly discouraged users from loading such a bypass, reminding them
that doing so will void their device's warranty.
"As we've said before, the vast majority of customers do not jailbreak
their iPhones as this can violate the warranty and can cause the iPhone
to become unstable and not work reliably," Apple said in a statement in
response to the ruling.
CERN
to seek antimatter in space
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a
module that will go into space to conduct particle physics experiments,
is set to leave CERN for the Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday.
The AMS module is being prepared for its transportation to the space
center in Florida on board a U.S. Air Force Galaxy transport aircraft,
CERN--the European Organization for Nuclear Research--said in a
statement Wednesday. Once launched, AMS-02 will operate as an external
module on the International Space Station (ISS). It will look for
antimatter and dark matter while measuring cosmic ray composition, in a
series of experiments designed to complement the particle physics work
being undertaken at the Large Hadron Collider.
"We are getting close to the space shuttle launch and the moment when
our detector will finally be installed on board the ISS," said AMS-02
spokesman Sam Ting in the CERN statement. "The detector's construction
phase is now finished, and we are eager for the data collection phase
to begin."
Iran
unveils first bomber drone
Iran has unveiled what it says is its first domestically
built unmanned - or drone - bomber.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the plane could serve as a
"messenger of death", but that its key message was one of friendship.
Iranian state TV later showed the "Karrar" aircraft in flight.
It said it had a range of 1,000km (620 miles) and could carry two
250-pound (115kg) bombs, or a precision bomb of 500 pounds.
The plane is the latest in a series of new pieces of military hardware
unveiled by Iran.
"This jet is a messenger of honour and human generosity and a saviour
of mankind, before being a messenger of death for enemies of mankind,"
President Ahmadinejad said after unveiling the Karrar at a ceremony
with defence officials.
"The key message is friendship," he added. "We must make efforts to
render all the enemy's weapons useless with our defence potential."
The unveiling came amid continuing concerns over Iran's nuclear
programme.
Western states suspect Iran is trying to obtain a nuclear bomb, though
Iran says its programme is designed to boost domestic power supplies.
On Saturday, Iran began loading fuel rods at the Bushehr nuclear power
station built and operated by Russia.
The US said it saw no "proliferation risk" from the plant, though
Israel condemned the move.
PlayStation
3 'hacked' by hardware crackers
A group of hardware hackers claim they are about to release
the first product to allow gamers to play homemade and pirated games on
the PlayStation 3.
The PS3 is the only games console that has not been hacked, despite
being on the market for more than three years.
Now a group called PSJailbreak says it will release a USB dongle
containing software that allows users to save games to the console's
hard drive.
Sony, the maker of the PS3, declined to comment.
PSJailbreak has also not responded to interview requests by BBC News.
However, a distributor for the dongle said that he had tested it and
would start selling the device "in the next two weeks".
"We are in contact with a person in Malaysia but don't know where the
manufacturer is," the spokesperson for Fox-Chip told the BBC.
Mixed response
According to videos of the hack posted online by an Australian
distributor, a user merely has to insert the USB stick into the console
to make it work.
The videos show a person navigating to a "backup manager" on the PS3,
which purports to show a list of games saved to the console's hard
drive.
The narrator flicks through the list before loading one of the games.
Sceptics have suggested the videos are a hoax or that they show the
hack running on a so-called "debug PS3" or "dev unit", used by
developers to test code for the machine.
However, a spokesperson for Fox-Chip, another distributor based in
France, denied this was the case.
"It works on all PlayStation 3s," he told BBC News. "We tested it
yesterday."
A spokesperson for Console Pro, another distributor based in the
Netherlands, told BBC News the "dongle converts a retail unit into a
dev unit".
"Dev mode means it will run any - even unsigned - code. Using a simple
backup maker or player software, you can play backed-up [saved] games
without the actual disc being in the PS3."
The spokesperson for Fox-Chip said the hack was a "good thing" as it
would give gamers more functionality, including the ability to run
their own games, called homebrews.
"There was previously no homebrew, because it was impossible to execute
[on the console] - now some people can do it," he said.
He denied that the product would just be used to pirate games and said,
in the long run, its release would be good for Sony.
"Sony should sell a lot of consoles because of this," he said.
But Rik Ferguson of security firm Trend Micro warned that the hack
could cause problems.
"It does disable some key security features built into the PS3 - like
the running of unsigned code - and we've seen with the iPhone that this
makes your device less secure."
The iPhone has been cracked several times and allows owners to run
non-Apple approved applications.
Gamers have met the news of PSJailbreak with a mixed response, with
some welcoming the possibility of developing their own games for the
popular console.
However, many posting on PS3 forums said that the product would promote
piracy and could undermine the games industry.
Pre-emptive strike
The legality of products such as this - commonly called modchips -
differs by country.
The Fox-chip spokesperson said that distributing them was legal in
France.
However, in other countries, console manufactures have successfully
taken distributors to court.
A recent High Court ruling in the UK said that "game copiers" were
illegal to import, advertise and sell.
The case had been brought by Nintendo, maker of the Wii and DS handheld
console.
The defendants had argued that they allow gamers to play home-made
games.
PSJailbreak is not the first time that there have been claims that the
popular PS3, which has sold almost 40 million units, has been hacked.
Earlier this year, a US hacker who gained notoriety for unlocking
Apple's iPhone as a teenager, George Hotz, claimed to have cracked the
console.
Following his initial announcement, Sony released an update for the
console disabling a function that allowed gamers to install a version
of Linux on their machines, thought to have been exploited by Mr Hotz.
Many saw it as a pre-emptive strike to guard against games piracy.
Mr Hotz has never released the exploit and has said publicly that he
has given up his work on the console.
The spokesperson for Console Pro said he expected a similarly swift
response to the latest exploit:
"They will come with a firmware update in some days blocking the use of
the dongle," he said.
