Are you worried about all the ruckus over the Jailbreakme.com 3.0
vulnerability for your iPhone and iPad? While you're waiting for Apple
to come out with a fix, there are a few safety precautions you can take.
To recap: Exposed to the public on Wednesday by the iOS hacking
group Dev-Team, Jailbreakme.com 3.0 offers a simple way to jailbreak
iPhones. Users can click on the app-like icon and 20 seconds later
you've got a jailbroken phone, which allows you to run non-Apple
approved apps.
Jailbreakme.com 3.0 exploits a vulnerability in the PDF reader. The
iOS Safari browser downloads a PDF file that triggers a vulnerability
in how the built-in PDF reader handles a certain font type.
Apple responded on Thursday
that it is developing a fix for vulnerabilities on iOS 4. Critics have
complained that Apple has been slow to respond to security problems, so
Apple's quick response to Jailbreakme.com 3.0 underscores the severity
of the vulnerability.
While you're waiting for the fix, Chenette offers four tips to keep your iPhones and iPads safe:
1. First and foremost, do not download or open files from untrusted Web sites.
2. Do not click on links from unknown or untrusted Web sites or
suspicious links from trusted sources (including sites like Google
Search).
3. Do not open email attachments from unknown or suspicious emails
from trusted sources. Your friend's email account may have been hacked.
4. As soon as Apple issues a patch, apply it! Many consumers don't patch regularly or do so after it's too late.
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