14 DAY TRIAL // Cupertino, California-based Apple has already released an OS update that fixes the SMS security breach that has made it to the headlines over the past few days. The vulnerability was demonstrated at the Black Hat security conference by Collin Mulliner and Charlie Miller, who showed how a hacker could gain control over the iPhone through a malicious SMS message.
“We appreciate the information provided to us about SMS vulnerabilities which affect several mobile phone platforms,” Apple representative Tom Neumayr stated, CNET reports. “This morning, less than 24 hours after a demonstration of this exploit, we've issued a free software update that eliminates the vulnerability from the iPhone. Contrary to what's been reported, no one has been able to take control of the iPhone to gain access to personal information using this exploit,” Neumayr added.
Collin Mulliner and Charlie Miller demonstrated how the vulnerability in the iPhone could have been exploited by a hacker to make phone calls, send text messages, use the handset's applications, and others more. According to the two, the way the iPhone handled the SMS message was the reason for which the exploit appeared. They also stated that Apple had been notified of the flaw six weeks in advance.
According to Apple, the iPhone OS 3.0.1 has been delivered to users to fix the exploit, as it improves the handset's memory handling. The best part with the new update, however, is the fact that it allows for the jailbreaking software solutions to work with it right from the start. The iPhone Dev Team has said on Twitter that current versions of redsn0w and ultrasn0w work on the update the same as on the 3.0 firmware.
Those who wish to update to the new firmware version will have to connect their device to a computer, open iTunes and click on the Check for Update button. The new iPhone OS 3.0.1 firmware update can be downloaded from Softpedia as well, via this link.