Hacker brings ASLR security to jailbroken iPhones

You might be one of the many people who want to jailbreak their iPhone, but are concerned about a reduction in security. Charlie Miller of Security Evaluators affirms your concerns: "When you jailbreak it, it breaks a lot of security of a normal iPhone." Stefan Esser of SektionEins might have a suitable security solution for jailbroken iPhones in the near future.

Esser's solution, called antid0te, will add ASLR (address space layout randomization) to jailbroken devices. ASLR, as the name would imply, randomizes the locations where malware could be installed. That way, your device will be less prone to security breaches.


You should still be wary of jailbreaking your iPhone if it's an enterprise device, but normal users will have one less thing to worry about. "With Stefan's stuff, now maybe it's an option, if you're a security-conscious person, to still jailbreak your phone because you can pick up ASLR, which is going to make it a lot harder to do exploits," explains Miller.

Apple's iOS currently lacks ASLR, though Apple has made some inroads with their Mac OS X. Windows Phone 7, Windows 7, and Windows Vista, on the other hand, already include ASLR.

Esser will be unveiling his ASLR solution for the iPhone on Tuesday at the Power of Community security conference in Seoul, South Korea. Stay safe, jailbreakers.

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