With security researchers set to reveal details of a critical security flaw in the iPhone at the Black Hat 2007 conference next week, Apple Inc. now has fewer than seven days to patch a critical vulnerability in the product. The iPhone hack is one of several disclosures planned that could lead to fireworks as more than 3,000 hackers and security professionals converge at Caesars Palace Las Vegas for the annual confab. The iPhone hack, which was first reported Monday by Independent Security Evaluators, showed how hackers could retrieve data from a victim's iPhone, by tricking them into visiting a malicious Web site.
If Apple were to patch the iPhone, it would be the company's first ever software update for the product, which began shipping in late June. Apple representatives couldn't say whether or not a patch should be delivered by the time researchers from Independent Security Evaluators disclose their findings next Thursday, but according to Black Hat Director Jeff Moss, the iPhone maker has had "plenty of time" to patch its product. "It would be nice if they patched it," he said. Patching the iPhone flaw would also show that Apple had made the right decision in reserving the right to patch the phone itself instead of handing over control of the iPhone software to the mobile carrier companies, as is common practice with mobile phones.
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News source: ComputerWorld
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