iPhone hacker states devices “phone home,” allows for disabling apps remotely
August 7, 2008
Filed under: iPod Family, Bad Apple, iPhone, App Store
iPhone Atlas is reporting that Apple has a way to blacklist and remotely remove applications from your iPhone. According to the post, the iPhone will remotely “phone home” and check a posted blacklist of bad applications. These speculations are based on a URL found on Apple’s site with references for a blacklisting mechanism:
https://iphone-services.apple.com/clbl/unauthorizedApps
Jonathan Zdziarski, an iPhone hacker, says nothing has been blacklisted as of yet. However, the mechanism is there, and the iPhone could call in on occasion to see what has been blacklisted. Zdziarski states that Apple could have the capability to shut down applications you’ve purchased from the App Store.
While this might sound like a privacy violation, our sources tell us that Apple has put this tool into place as a security measure to shut down rogue apps if needed, and it could simply be a proof of concept that hasn’t yet been implemented for actual takedowns. We’re not convinced that this is new, considering that the only entry in the unauthorizedApps list is dated “2004″ and is clearly a test entry.
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