There is nothing new about the fact that Apple has always been against jailbreaking of its iOS devices, and this issue recently got much publicity when the US copyright office declared that jailbreaking of mobile devices or bypassing such security mechanisms was legal. This was almost immediately followed by the release of a browser based online jailbreak method, which made jailbreaking easier than ever.
Apple had filed a patent named ‘SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IDENTIFYING UNAUTHORIZED USERS OF AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE’ way back in February 2009 and it wasn’t published until only recently. The contents and description of this patent suggest that Apple has been working on methods to remotely detect and disable devices whose software has been ‘tampered’ with by users.
The extent of this disabling cannot be judged accurately as of now, but could potentially mean that Apple can brick your iPhone remotely and render it unusable. While that may sound extreme, it is definitely possible. If not completely brick your device, Apple may block you from using certain services such as the app store.
The patent mentions that these security mechanisms may extend to users that are involved in “hacking, jailbreaking, unlocking, or removal of a SIM card” from their device. The device may also be rigged to send screenshots, keylogs, network packets, and the camera may be remotely activated to send pictures of the users vicinity or the user himself to Apple. It will also enable the GPS in the device to reveal to the carrier or Apple the location of the user involved in the ‘unauthorized’ activity. While this may be questionable as it raises many issues related to privacy, Apple seems to be all set to include these new mechanisms embedded into its devices as either hardware or software.
Even though the patent lists many methods which may step in to a grey area when it comes to morality, but Apple has also been known to file hundreds of patents every year, many of which never actually see daylight. This is probably just wishful thinking, because if the number of users that are involved in jailbreaking/unlocking becomes significant enough to raise alarms at Cupertino, Apple will take any possible measures to ensure that it maintains control over its devices.
Apple’s New Patent May Allow To Remotely Brick Your Jailbroken iPhone is a post from Technix Update
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