Hackers have already succeeded in cracking the iPhone's
activation process, a step towards unlocking the iPhone.
Sumner Lemon, IDG News Service
Hackers may successfully unlock an iPhone in as soon as three to
seven days, according to a representative of one effort that aims
to unlock Apple Inc.'s new handset.
"We believe it will be easy. We are privately aware many of the
iPhone engineers came from other handset manufacturers, and we
understand their design techniques fairly well," said gj, speaking
in an interview conducted using IRC (Internet Relay Chat). He
requested that his real name not be used.
"Easy to us means inside one week," he said, offering an estimate
of three to seven days.
Unlocking the iPhone means users will be able to use the handset
with other service providers, not just AT&T Inc., which has an
exclusive deal to sell the phone in the U.S.
By Tuesday night, U.S. time, hackers succeeded in cracking the
iPhone's activation process, a minor step towards unlocking the
iPhone but a significant technical challenge.
The activation process uses a software token that is sent from the
phone via iTunes to Apple, which signs the token and returns it to
the phone. When that process is completed, iTunes tells the phone
to activate.
Hackers developed tools for both Windows and MacOS that allow users
to activate their phones without iTunes. But users will have to use
a token from an activated iPhone, which can be used to activate
multiple phones. The hackers are not providing a token with the
tools.
"If you don't have a known token (which does contain identifying
information) you won't be able to use the tool," gj said.
At least one other hacker found a way to activate the iPhone
without using iTunes. Jon Lech Johansen -- better known as DVD Jon,
a hacker who helped develop the DeCSS tool for decrypting DVDs --
released a tool that can activate the iPhone without iTunes on his
blog.
"The iPhone does not have phone capability, but the iPod and Wi-Fi
work," Johansen wrote.
Cracking the activation process brings hackers one step closer to
their goal of unlocking the iPhone. The phone requires iTunes to
activate functions such as its camera and music player. But the
process also requires signing up for a two-year data plan with
AT&T.
"Activating the phone really just makes the device more 'usable'
for those who want to use it as a Wi-Fi device, for instance," gj
said.
With the activation process cracked hackers turned their focus to
unlocking the iPhone, a challenge that is expected to be easier
than cracking the activation process.
"Unlocking is a function of the radio and the radio's interaction
with the SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) logic, and these are
mostly standards based," gj said.
A rumored software update for the iPhone, expected to be released
on July 5, could undo some of the progress hackers made towards
unlocking the phone. "If Apple releases an update on July 5th that
includes 'fixes' for our efforts so far, it will be a setback," gj
said. "I don't know if it will be a permanent one."
Hackers working together to unlock the iPhone don't belong to a
specific group, and don't plan to claim credit for their work, gj
said. "We just want to see the hardware freed. We accept that
others will exploit those works but hopefully it will be a lesson
to Apple," he said.
"They're such a great company, it's a real shame for them to lock
everything down like this. The design is top notch," he said. "They
would win far more business by setting an example for the
industry."