iOS 6.1 security loophole allows lockscreen bypass, Apple promises fix
Another day, another iOS 6.1 debacle. After the 3G fiasco and the Exchange bug, a glaring security flaw has been discovered with the iOS 6.1 lockscreen.
As if iOS 6.1 hasn’t already received its fair share of heat for a slew of connectivity problems, a recent development has revealed that the lockscreen on iOS 6.1 can be easily bypassed with a few simple presses.
This new exploit, discovered by a user and widely described in a YouTube video, does not require any form of software or access to a computer: indeed, all it needs is the crucial vulnerability allegedly already present on iOS 6.1, affecting the Phone app on the iPhone. The process itself is quite cumbersome, yet it boils down to a few simple steps. As an iPhone owner, we’re not going to get into the specifics of how you can violate someone’s privacy, but in case you are locked out of your iPhone, a quick Google search should turn up the video fairly easily.
The bypassing of the lockscreen can be seen as a major debacle for Apple, and even more so for iOS 6.1 given that it also broke 3G connectivity for some iPhone 4S users in Europe. There’s even an Exchange bug in the software that, while won’t be much of a bother to an average user, but it will drive those managing corporate emails up the wall. Apple has already pushed out an update to fix the 3G issue and issued a statement promising a quick fix for the Exchange issue. The company last night responded to the lockscreen loophole reports, saying: “We are aware of this issue, and will deliver a fix in a future software update.”
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time such a loophole has been found on an iOS device. iOS 4.1 was plagued with the same issue and last year, a similar exploit surfaced which utilized the camera access feature on the lockscreen. It almost seems like Apple is rushing out versions of iOS for release without sufficiently thorough testing. We can only hope that Apple would fix this glaring security flaw promptly.