iOS 4.1 Jailbreak Is Here, Hackers Claim

A hacker called pod2g claims he’s found an exploit that will allow a jailbreak of iOS 4.1, and other hackers from the jailbreaking community have confirmed it.

Jailbreaking (overriding Apple’s software lock-down on iOS devices) is usually a cat-and-mouse game: hackers find a new exploit, and then Apple patches it with the next iOS update.

This time, however, things might be different, as this new jailbreak is based on a boot ROM exploit, meaning it targets a low-level part of the OS, and Apple will have to update the hardware – not the software – to patch it.

Furthermore, it means that most iOS devices, regardless of the iOS version they have installed, may be vulnerable to the exploit: iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, the iPad, and so on.

Although the U.S. government recently declared jailbreaking legal, it still voids your warranty, so do it at your own peril. If you do plan to jailbreak your iOS device, you should probably wait before you upgrade it to 4.1, as the jailbreak is still not public; meaning there’s not an easy way for the layman to apply it. Judging from the buzz in the jailbreaking community, which is still testing and fine-tuning the hack, it might be the real thing.

[via: mashable]

Posted in: Apple