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http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/11/03/apple-iphone-bug-tech-security-cz_tb_1103iphone.html
By Taylor Buley
Security
Forbes.com
11.03.08
Burlingame, Calif. - Italian systems engineer Piergiorgio Zambrini won
fame and money last year when he created "Ziphone," the first widespread
application that unlocked iPhones to run on mobile carriers other than
AT&T. Now he's making another bid for the spotlight by revealing a bug
that can crash the iPhone and, he says, other devices including iPods
and Apple computers.
Zambrini planned to publish news about the bug Monday--although he's
saving the technical details for Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ),
he says--at least for now.
The 38-year-old security expert praises Apple's marketing prowess and
calls Steve Jobs a genius. But there are chinks in Apple's software--and
Zambrini is determined to uncover them.
The bug Zambrini found is in the audio portion of Apple's video format.
Knowing the bug exists, someone could write a program that incorporates
the bug into a video file and trigger a crash whenever an iPhone
attempts to run that file. The bug, which is located in a shared code
library that is used across most Apple operating systems and some Linux
ones as well, doesn't appear to cause any permanent damage, but
immediately sends the device into a panic that leads to a lengthy
reboot.
Forbes.com has confirmed that it crashes the latest generation of
iPhones. Zambrini asserts it can take down any Apple iPod or iPhone,
too.
[...]
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