Running a jailbroken iPhone has its risks, as a Dutch hacker has demonstrated. Specifically, he used a bit of port scanning to find jailbroken phones with SSH running in his native Netherlands. From there, he sent unsuspecting users a message that reads, “Your iPhone’s been hacked because it’s really insecure! Please visit doiop.com/iHacked and secure your iPhone right now! Right now, I can access all your files.”

The URL directs the users to Paypal and requests €5 in exchange for instructions that explain how to remove the hack. But how did he get in? By relying on users’ forgetfulness. All iPhones have a default root password. Those who forget to change it are vulnerable to this very kind of attack.

Asking for money is kind of a bummer but much less obnoxious that other things he could have done. The moral of the story is pay attention and be thorough when jailbreaking your iPhone.

Dutch hacker accesses jailbroken iPhones, requests €5 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Dutch hacker accesses jailbroken iPhones, requests €5 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

[via | The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)]