“Google has released a powerful tool that can help security researchers hack and find bugs in iOS 11.1.2,” Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai reports for Motherboard. “The exploit is the work of Ian Beer, one of the most prolific iOS bug hunters, and a member of Google Project Zero, which works to find bugs in all types of software, including that not made by Google. Beer released the tool Monday, which he says should work for ‘all devices.’ The proof of concept works only for those devices he tested—iPhone 7, 6s and iPod touch 6G — ‘but adding more support should be easy,’ he wrote.”
“Last week, Beer caused a stir among the community of hackers who hack on the iPhone — also traditionally known as jailbreakers — by announcing that he was about to publish an exploit for iOS 11.1.2,” Franceschi-Bicchierai reports. “Researchers reacted with excitement as they realized the tool would make jailbreaking and security research much easier.”
“The iPhone is one of the hardest consumer devices to hack, and researchers who can do that and are able to find bugs in it rarely report the bugs or publish the tools they use because they are so valuable. But Google Project Zero researchers don’t need the money, and their mission is precisely to make all software, especially that owned by other companies, safer,” Franceschi-Bicchierai reports. “The final goal, Google said, is to help security researchers find even more bugs and hopefully report them to Apple so that they get fixed. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the exploit has been patched.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: So, most users should make sure they’ve updated their iOS devices to iOS 11.2.