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To: PugetSoundSoldier
> ...it should also be a seriously disturbing revelation that a simple visit to a website can root your device.

Yeah, but:

3. Slide to Jailbreak.
Reminds me of:
"This is the Amish Virus. We don't have computers, so this virus works on the honor system. Please mail this to all your friends and co-workers, then please delete all the files on your hard drive. Thank you! Sincerely, the Amish Virus Team."
Anything can be done with a cooperative operator. Lack of operator common sense is beyond the reach of even the best security design.
10 posted on 08/03/2010 11:05:15 AM PDT by dayglored (Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government!)
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To: dayglored

Note that the developer of that site purposefully placed that functionality on the website; the code waits until someone slides to execute. It could auto-execute the second you visit the website. The “slide to unlock” is simply a step added so that anyone who visits the site must explicitly “agree” to the jailbreaking by taking a singular step.

Remember, the scripts are already launched and on the device by the time the “slide to unlock” is shown. All the malicious code exists client side, there’s nothing to stop the scripts from executing other than the way the HTML was constructed.

Basically, this proves that simply visiting a website can compromise your iOS device. It’s been rumored to exist for a year or more, but never really identified, until now. Perhaps it’s because infections/malicious code that’s been exploiting this hole can clean up after itself since it’s running at root. Thus who knows how many devices were actually rooted, sifted, and then patched back up?

Perhaps this is also the source of all the “hey I didn’t order $999 worth of apps!” stories that have occurred over the last few years. What a creative way to sell a bunch of apps: create a website that will root an iPhone, get the app store account info from the phone, then clean yourself up. BINGO - now you have the ability to use another person’s app store information without them knowing, or even doing something wrong; they just visit your attack website and the damage is done.


11 posted on 08/03/2010 5:33:27 PM PDT by PugetSoundSoldier (Indignation over the Sting of Truth is the defense of the indefensible)
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