iPhone Hacked & Unlocked

**Panzerfaust** · 08-25-2007, 11:59 AM

Teenage hacker unlocks the iPhone

George Hotz says he wishes his hack could be a bit simpler

A New Jersey teenager has unlocked the iPhone, opening the way to Apple's iconic mobile telephone being used by non-US networks.
The Associated Press news agency confirmed George Hotz, 17, had unlocked the iPhone and used it on T-Mobile, a rival to its sole US operator, AT&T.

The hacker says the unlocking takes about two hours and involves some soldering and skill with software.

AT&T and Apple have not yet commented on the news.

"Some of my friends think I wasted my summer but I think it was worth it"

George Hotz

Hackers and security researchers have been poring over Apple's much-coveted phone since its launch in the US in June in an effort to discover vulnerabilities in the handset.

Top of their list has been cracking the code that ties the phone to AT&T, the iPhone's exclusive network.

Before George Hotz's announcement on his blog, the iPhone was made to work on overseas networks using another method, which involves copying information from the Sim (Subscriber Identity Module) card.

However, special equipment was needed and the actual phone was not unlocked, with each Sim card having to be reprogrammed for use on a particular iPhone.

Analysts believe Apple may still have time to modify the iPhone production line to make new phones invulnerable to the hacks before the iPhone's expected European launch later this year.

Collaboration

The young hacker says he hopes phone-owners can eventually unlock their phones by themselves, and that he hopes his discovery will not be exploited for commercial gain.

The iPhone is currently sold only within the US

"That's exactly, like, what I don't want... people making money off this," he told AP.

The next step, he said, would be a non-solder solution: a way to unlock the phone using software alone.

Technology blog Engadget said on Friday that it had successfully unlocked an iPhone using a different method that required no tinkering with the hardware. The software was supplied by an anonymous group of hackers that apparently plans to charge for it, AP reports.

The agency notes that both the Hotz and Sim techniques leave the iPhone's many functions intact apart from its "visual voicemail" feature, which shows voice messages as if they are incoming e-mail.

The New Jersey hacker says he collaborated online with four other people, two of them in Russia, to develop the unlocking process.

He spent about 500 hours on the project since the launch on 29 June.

"Some of my friends think I wasted my summer but I think it was worth it," he told US newspaper The Record of Bergen County.

**Panzerfaust** · 08-25-2007, 12:00 PM

From another forum:

"I heard on the radio that the justice department is trying to build a case on him right now. Mainly becuz they dont want him to become a clebrity from this and are going to make an example out of him. Most likely prosecute him as an adult or some shit.

Cant wait to see what happens. Btw- because the exploit cant be modified by firmware it is considered hacking of their (att network) and ATT has stated that the damage caused by this is projected to be over 50 million dollars".

**dupa95** · 08-25-2007, 12:18 PM

carlos E said no bugs in this one he said he knew the guy who did the softwear for this phon,and said the guy is really anal about details. I really dought this cuz. There was one big security hole and this punk hacked it. So apple needs to step up. They look to much like micrsoft at this point with this phon.

Originally Posted by Carlos_E

You have no idea how anal Steve Jobs is. This phone WILL NOT launch with bugs.

**Lexed** · 08-25-2007, 12:32 PM

cool but he is still a loser

**Elysium** · 08-25-2007, 12:59 PM

Only a matter of time to be honest, but 2 hours to unlock including soldering work, ouch!

**Panzerfaust** · 08-25-2007, 01:19 PM

I don't think this would be considered a "bug", it took over 500hrs to come up with this hack, and then 2hrs to complete it.

I know I won't be hacking it anytime soon.

**Sage** · 08-25-2007, 02:55 PM

That’s a nice little summer project.

Was this televised on the news somewhere since I did not catch any of that....

**DSM4Life** · 08-25-2007, 03:28 PM

They will go after him but after the dusts settles they will turn around and offer him a job.

Think about it, he is 17 and he just crack a hug secret in a major companies product that i am sure they spent millions on.

**Big** · 08-25-2007, 03:31 PM

Originally Posted by DSM4Life

They will go after him but after the dusts settles they will turn around and offer him a job.

Think about it, he is 17 and he just crack a hug secret in a major companies product that i am sure they spent millions on.

That's exactly what I was thinking, he may get a slap on the wrist but chances are his future is set.

**Amorphic** · 08-25-2007, 04:20 PM

Originally Posted by DSM4Life

They will go after him but after the dusts settles they will turn around and offer him a job.

Think about it, he is 17 and he just crack a hug secret in a major companies product that i am sure they spent millions on.

Ditto to that, hes a dork, but he might be rich soon.

Iphones are meh, I dont see the need for them, you drop that thing and its done for. i'll stick with something a little more durable, and keep my computer related operations on a pc.

**Sir Lifts-a-lot** · 08-25-2007, 07:36 PM

the kid was on msnbc tonight and a lawyer was saying that there really is nothing apple can do because of some law that was passed in 2004 I think he said. He also said that he has been offered an internship at Google next summer... The kid is basically Bill Gates.

**Sage** · 08-28-2007, 09:48 AM

From Yahoo -

George Hotz, of Glen Rock, N.J., said he had reached the deal with CertiCell, a Louisville, Ky.-based mobile phone repair company.

Hotz posted on his blog that he traded his modified iPhone for "a sweet Nissan 350Z and 3 8GB iPhones."

"This has been a great end to a great summer," Hotz wrote.

The 17-year-old Hotz said he will be sending the three new iPhones to the three online collaborators who helped him divorce Apple Inc's popular product from AT&T's network. The job took 500 hours, or about 8 hours a day since the iPhone's June 29 launch.

Hotz made the deal with Terry Daidone, co-founder of CertiCell, who also promised the teen a paid consulting job.

"We do not have any plans on the table right now to commercialize Mr. Hotz' discovery," Daidone said in a statement.