iPhone may be vulnerable to SMS security flaw
Monday, July 6, 2009
Apple's iPhone 3GS may have a SMS flaw that could allow an attacker to remotely execute malicious code or hijack the device as part of a botnet, security researcher Charlie Miller said last week at a network security conference in Singapore, according to IDG News Service.
Miller, an authority on Mac OS X security and co-author of The Mac Hacker's Handbook, said he was able to use the vulnerability in the way the iPhone receives text messages to remotely crash the phone. Miller said he reported the vulnerability to Apple.
He said hackers could theoretically exploit the vulnerability to monitor the location of the phone using GPS, turn on the phone's microphone to eavesdrop on conversations or hijack the phone as part of a botnet or to launch distributed denial-of-service attacks, IDG News reported.
Miller also warned that "jailbreaking" an iPhone to add software or capabilities not offered by Apple leaves the device vulnerable to hacking and viruses.
"If you care about security, don't use a jailbroken iPhone," Miller said, according to IDG News.
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