Refurbished iPhones are an excellent source of previous users' data

by Nilay Patel, posted May 20th 2008 at 3:59PM

It looks like you might have to think twice before flipping that old iPhone on eBay when the 3G version finally hits -- it appears that restoring the phone doesn't actually erase the contents of the flash, meaning that your data is available to anyone with the proper tools until it's overwritten. Making matters worse, it appears that Apple doesn't do a low-level format when refurbishing iPhones either -- an Oregon State Police detective was able to use forensic software to pull files, emails, and screenshots off an out-of-the-box refurbished iPhone. This actually shouldn't be surprising to anyone -- we've seen several utilities that access "deleted" portions of storage -- but since Apple doesn't provide users direct access to the iPhone's filesystem, it's basically impossible to clear your personal data off the device short of restoring and filling the disk with junk data. Hopefully iPhone 2.0's Exchange-based "remote wipe" feature is a bit more secure, eh?

[Via TUAW]

Filed under: Handsets, Apple

Tags: exploit, iphone, security, user data, UserData

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Highly Ranked

Konceptz @ May 20th 2008 4:47PM

pwnd.

Highest Ranked

frankpreyes @ May 20th 2008 5:28PM

ALL YOUR IPHONES ARE BELONG TO US!

Neutral

oliver hart @ May 20th 2008 5:49PM

wow, i didnt know apple made mistakes. my whole perception of reality is now thrown into question...

Neutral

Shadow08 @ May 20th 2008 7:50PM

Yeah I know. If this was Microsoft we would never hear the end of how poorly designed and insecure their products are. Are Windows Mobile phones even at risk?

Low Ranked

tc1uscg @ May 20th 2008 10:22PM

Please say your kidding. Just the notion that you think this way of apple (that they can do no wrong) is what's wrong with this world today. BLIND ACCEPTANCE BECAUSE OF THE NAME. If you do, then your a idiot. If your kidding.. good one.

Neutral

slamEVIL @ May 20th 2008 6:34PM

but i'm sure apple and the freakin' iphone are still soooooo perfect and can do no wrong.

Lowest Ranked

Chris Cox @ May 20th 2008 7:44PM

Ummmmmm how is this news? I don't know of ANY ... ANY smartphone that does a proper wipe of data. Why are people talking like APPLE did wrong? I want someone to give me an example of a smartphone that does a proper NSA 3 pass wipe to ensure data cannot be recovered. NAME ONE. If they don't (and none of the phones do), then it is certain your data can be recovered. Blaming this on Apple only shows your ignorance.

Neutral

Shadow08 @ May 20th 2008 11:22PM

Well, apparently it's news every time Windows has a zero-day attack even though every OS and software has it's holes and problems.

I'm not a MS fanboy by any means, but the bias that's always in Apple's favor really annoys me.

Highly Ranked

slamEVIL @ May 20th 2008 8:12PM

i think the point here is, this dude bought it directly from apple. apple didn't erase the data correctly. soooooo yes, apple did wrong.

Highly Ranked

itsTooEasy @ May 20th 2008 8:24PM

BlackBerry (page 67):
http://na.blackberry.com/eng/deliverables/799/BlackBerry_Enterprise_Solution_Security_Technical_Overview%5B1%5D.pdf

Highly Ranked

carlo2 @ May 20th 2008 8:39PM

This is what happens when you have to hack your phone to get it to do things that so many other phones already do. If people weren't looking for ways to provide functionality for the phones, and were satisfied with it, there wouldn't be half as many people chopping it apart to get at what they want...

Is the iPhone the most hacked phone ever?

Neutral

tc1uscg @ May 20th 2008 10:21PM

Do you really thing the idiot whyphone users care about this. But hey, the phone is "cool" to "play" with.

Neutral

adage @ May 20th 2008 11:00PM

People are jumping all over this because if this had been a Microsoft product, Apple fanboys would jump all over it and claim Microsoft as producing crappy products. But when Apple makes a mistakes, the Apple fanboys are all "well Microsoft does this all the time" and "well why is it a big deal if Apple makes a mistake?".

Neutral