Jailbreaking an iPhone certainly brings many benefits, but it's also frought with some peril, as amply demonstrated by a Dutch hacker who decided to go snooping around for vulnerable jailbroken iPhones in the Netherlands. While he apparently didn't actually swipe personal information or cause any damage, he was able to find some jailbroken iPhones with SSH running, which allowed him to display a message saying "Your iPhone's been hacked because it's really insecure! Please visit doiop.com/iHacked and secure your iPhone right now!" A noble gesture of a white hat hacker? Not exactly, 'cause that site demands €5 for the "fix" to let folks go back to using their phone securely -- or it did until the hacker apparently had a change of heart and posted the instructions for free, along with an apology for his misguided moneymaking scheme.

[Via TUAW]

There's no stopping the eternal tug-of-war between the powers that be and the hackers that will, and for the time being it looks like things are back in the hands of the hackers. As of noon today giddy jailbreakers can take the next step and go full-on with blacksn0w, the unlock for the latest 05.11.07 baseband (with tethering enabled to boot). And if that weren't enough, it looks like blackra1n RC3 is alive as well, with Mac and Windows support. What are you waiting for? Hit the read link to get started, if that's your thing. And the battle for the iPhone's immortal soul continues...

[Via On The iPhone]

Let's be clear upfront that this isn't for the casual iPhone jailbreaker, but if you feeling like living on the edge, you can give your original model an added boost of MMS capability, or any device with OS 3.1.2 the power to tether. Highlighted in a series of tweets today by iPhone dev team lead MuscleNerd, whiterat (for MMS) and two-bit (for tethering) will get the job done, but both require tinkering with the baseband, which is exponentially more advanced and brick-inducing than, say, installing Cydia. Venture forth with the instructions beyond the read links below.

[Via 9 to 5 Mac]

Read - iPhone 2G MMS
Read - OS 3.1.2 tethering

Well, if you can't beat 'em, then just keep 'em busy. That seems to be the thinking at Apple these days at least, which has ratcheted up its fight with the iPhone jailbreaking community once again by updating the bootrom on iPhone 3GS units that started shipping in the past week. That was apparently first discovered by Mathieulh and later verified by iPhone Dev Team member "Muscle Nerd," who confirmed that the update (iBoot-359.3.2) renders the iPhone 3GS "impossible" to jailbreak for the time being. Of course, that time could well end up being fairly short, but if you just have to jailbreak a 3GS right now, you'll probably want to try to track down some old stock or snap up a refurbished unit.

[Via Daily Tech]

Wow, judging by our tips jar we'd say you're all pretty darn excited about Geohot's Blackra1n jailbreak, which lets you open up iPhone OS 3.1.2 devices including the iPod touch 3G and new iPhone 3GSs -- but you can't unlock yet, so don't get any big ideas about switching carriers. Windows-only at the moment, but with this level of enthusiasm out there we can't imagine a Mac version is far behind.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Typically, official iPhone OS updates from Apple mean days of hand-wringing in the jailbreaking crowd while the iPhone dev-team and its contemporaries get cracking on updated cracks. Here's a refreshing change of pace, though: with 3.0.1, it's business as usual. Turns out that both redsn0w and ultrasn0w work every bit as well on the latest update as they did on 3.0 -- the only catch is that you currently have to point to the 3.0 file when you're prompted for an IPSW. Yeah, the dev-team says that it's working on an updated version of redsn0w that recognizes the 3.0.1 update, but really, it's a pretty minor inconvenience compared to the usual post-update unlock drama -- not to insinuate that we don't like a little drama from time to time, of course.

[Via CNET]

You may have seen some reports today about a new app from Ripdev called InstallerApp, which some people have mistakenly been covering as a desktop client that lets you install Cydia and Installer apps without having to jailbreak your iPhone using something like PwnageTool. Just to set the record straight, here's the deal: InstallerApp is a kind of jailbreaking tool (let's call it "jailbreaking lite") coupled with a separate application management client for your computer. From what we can tell, the first thing it does is jailbreak your device (or, if you're already jailbroken, installs some additional software so it can talk to your phone). In no way is it allowing you to install non-Apple-approved apps onto a non-jailbroken phone: it's tweaking your underlying system to allow for those apps to run, and giving you an iTunes replacement to add and delete programs on your device. Keep in mind, RipDev is charging $7 for this, which isn't a bundle, but not free either... unlike PwnageTool and QuickPwn, which essentially do the same thing (minus the desktop client). We're not saying it's not a useful app -- it might be to some -- it just isn't the "get into jail free" solution that you may have heard it is. And now you know... which is half the battle.

Uh oh, Ashton, it looks like Apple might have a thing or two to say about that jailbroken iPhone of yours. Every three years the Copyright Office asks for proposed exemptions to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act's rules against breaking access protections, and this time around the lovable scamps at the Electronic Frontier Foundation have asked that jailbreaking phones -- like, yes, the iPhone -- be classified as one of those exceptions. As you might have guessed, Apple's response to the EFF isn't exactly supportive of the idea: it says the proposed rule will "destroy the technological protection of Apple's key copyrighted computer programs in the iPhone device itself and of copyrighted content owned by Apple that plays on the iPhone." Both sides have filed long briefs supporting their positions with extremely detailed legal arguments, but the main takeaways are that the EFF thinks that allowing jailbreaking will result in more apps and innovation, and Apple points out that the App Store is already hugely successful and that jailbroken phones are technically running unauthorized modifications of Apple's copyrighted iPhone code that allows them to run pirated applications. Interestingly, Apple's convoluted App Store approval process is the center of a lot of discussion, and Apple is totally disengeniuous about it, saying there's no "duplication of functionality" rule and as proof claims to have allowed "multiple general web browsers... and multiple mail programs." Note to the Copyright Office: if you believe this we have a very nice bridge to sell you.

Now, let's be clear: while we're definitely hoping the EFF pulls this one out, the worst thing that can result of all this is the status quo -- Apple isn't asking for jailbreaking to specifically be ruled illegal, it's just asking that it not be specifically ruled legal. If that sounds like a fuzzy distinction, well, it is, but that's the sort of gray area that keeps everyone else out of court for the time being. We'll find out more in the spring, when the Copyright Office holds hearings -- final rulings are due in October.

Read - EFF page on the jailbreaking debate
Read - EFF's brief (PDF)
Read - Apple's reply (PDF)
Read - EFF's second brief (PDF)

Sure, it was already possible (if complicated) to jailbreak a first-gen iPhone running the 2.0 software under Windows, but this is the one-click tool all you crazy cats with those extra G's need if you don't have a Mac -- too bad no one's come up with a better name than "pwn" yet. Please, people. Let's do better.

PS.- As usual, you run the risk of totally destroying your phone mucking around with this stuff, so don't say we didn't warn you.

Update: winpwn.com is down already, mirrors in the comments!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]