Apple tackles iPhone lock-up cockup with iOS 7.0.2 Apple has plugged a gaping security hole in iOS 7 which allowed interlopers to snoop through fanbois' private content. When iOS 7 was released last week, Apple watchers quickly found they could bypass the lock screen bypass method by sliding up the new Control Center and performing a nifty button combination requiring perfect …
Not only did they roll one update, they apparently had 7.0.1 ready to go even earlier when they added whatever fix required withholding 7.0.1 back in favor of 7.0.2 - likely the lock screen security thing.
Nice to seem them moving a bit more quickly to address such security issues.
Version 7.0.1 was specifically for the 5S and 5C only, rolled out almost immediately after the hardware was released. The only widely discussed fix was a fingerprint sensor bug on the 5S; there's also a lot of talk of a number of regressions too. Rather an obvious sign that it was all pushed out the door a bit too early...
Version 7.0.2 is being used for everyone as a universal upgrade to bring the numbers back in sync. For most devices, there's never been a 7.0.1.
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It was given false digital inputs in order to gain illegitimate access. Doesn't really matter whether those digital inputs were from a keyboard or a phone keypad or touchpad, or if they were from fine lines printed onto a finger-tip sized piece of latex.
It was hacked.
To say otherwise would be to say that giving false inputs to a barcode scanner would not be hacking.
If you were an experienced informaticker, you would know what hacking is. Originally, a hacker was just a clever programmer who could hack useful code into place quickly, not necessarily with finesse. Now it means someone who can hack his way into code or a system using code he has hacked together. This is not hacking, any more than logging into your account would be if you had neglected to set a password or written it on a post-it stuck to the screen.
The Chaos club conceded that they had used an old trick, simply refined to use the better resolution available today to match the better quality fingerprint scanner. Whether what they did is really such a devastating blow to the authorisation system or not is open to debate. It does not, in fact enable easy, quick and reliable access to anyone's iphone 5s by all and sundry. It requires time, the right equipment, physical access to the mobile for long enough to complete the process and a good quality fingerprint of the authorised finger. Overall, security is still greatly improved as the lazy majority of users who begrudge the few seconds to type a number (or even remember it) are likely to use the scanner and frustrate 99.9 per cent of would be miscreants and curious or suspicious spouses. A super cautious user could, even as one should with passwords, change the authorised finger regularly, in some random sequence repeated at random intervals.
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"First, the residual fingerprint from the phone is either photographed or scanned with a flatbed scanner at 2400 dpi. Then the image is converted to black & white, inverted and mirrored. This image is then printed onto transparent sheet at 1200 dpi. To create the mold, the mask is then used to expose the fingerprint structure on photo-senistive PCB material. The PCB material is then developed, etched and cleaned. After this process, the mold is ready. A thin coat of graphite spray is applied to ensure an improved capacitive response. This also makes it easier to remove the fake fingerprint. Finally a thin film of white wood glue is smeared into the mold. After the glue cures the new fake fingerprint is ready for use."
Oh yeah... easy peasy...
Right.
IOS 7.0.2 fixes one bug and opens another. Emails which use to be long gone and deleted moths ago all come back and are impossible to actually remove fully. as deleting them to trash, delete trashed items, re-scan for new emails and get all the old and deleted ones back again.
Great eh. Android anyone?
"The iOS 7 numbers were so bad that I assumed I made some kind of mistake, so I completely re-flashed the phone and ran our test again with the same result, nearly down to the minute (I then did the same with iOS 6 to confirm). Our Verizon iPhone 5 running iOS 7 burns through its battery more than three hours faster than the exact same phone performing the exact same test with the exact same settings under iOS 6. Other devices lose little enough that most people probably won’t notice the problem, but it’s puzzling that Apple’s most recent flagship is so negatively impacted"
-- http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/09/ios-7-thoroughly-reviewed/6/
This, from a quite reliable source. I may refrain from upgrading my 5 for the time being.
First thing I did after updating to iOS7 was to disable that feature. Who at apple thought it a good idea to let potential thieves activate airplane mode without a password? Totally undermines the point of 'find my iphone'. I like iOS7 but it's far from perfect. However, this particular feature being available from lock screen is an utter fail.
AC wrote:
"Well if you design an interface where EVERY app has a white background on an LCD panel then of course the battery will take a hit."
I'm no Apple fan, not by a long chalk, but if you're going to knock them at least try to be accurate.
What you are saying would be true if the iPhone had an AMOLED screen, but it doesn't. It uses an LED backlit screen which, I believe, consumes roughly the same amount of power regardless of the colours being displayed. In other words an LED backlit screen will consume the same amount of power whether it is displaying white, black, red, green, blue or any combination thereof. However, since the iPhone 4, Apple have used an IPS LED backlit screen which, it is claimed, can potentially consume 50% less power than an equivalent sized AMOLED screen when displaying white. So, theoretically at least, Apple have actually made the smart choice by sticking with an IPS LED Backlit screen and choosing a dominantly white colour scheme (whether this was a concious choice or purely coincidental is a different matter).
Conversely this is why Google have gone for a darker colour scheme, as there is an awful lot of Android devices, including (and especially) their own branded ones, that use AMOLED screens.
If older devices consume more power overall, with the latest OS update, than previously, then I'd hazard a guess its because of extra or more intensive processes, not as a result of the choice of colour scheme. Of course, there's also the "Oooh, shiny new stuff!" effect which results in the device being played with a lot more which, in turn, can have an initially huge impact on perceived battery life until the "Oooh, shiny new stuff!" effect wears off and the usage pattern returns to normal.
Anyway, I feel a little bit faint after saying something which could be interpreted as being complimentary to Apple... I'm off for a little lie down! :D
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