NSA Can Access Everything On Your iPhone Using Its ‘DROPOUTJEEP’ Backdoor

Just when you think that the whole NSA situation can’t get a lot worse, somehow it blows up and somehow takes things to a new level. And now, we’re hearing that the NSA can reportedly gain almost complete access to an iPhone remotely following installation of a software implant.

The news comes via security researcher Jacob Applebaum and German news outlet Der Spiegel, with the revelation being that an NSA program called DROPOUTJEEP allows the agency to collect SMS messages, location data and other information from an iPhone without touching it once a software implant has been installed. Currently that requires access to the device in question, though an updated release was being worked on that would allow remote installation.

Oh, and the NSA can activate an iPhone’s microphone and camera too, should they so wish. Time to start putting black tape over that camera, perhaps.

"DROPOUTJEEP is a software implant for the Apple iPhone that utilizes modular mission applications to provide specific SIGINT functionality. This functionality includes the ability to remotely push/pull files from the device, SMS retrieval, contact list retrieval, voicemail, geolocation, hot mic, camera capture, cell tower location, etc. Command, control, and data exfiltration can occur over SMS messaging or a GPRS data connection. All communications with the implant will be covert and encrypted."

What’s particularly most worrying about this whole sordid affair is the NSA’s belief that this method of data collection will work 100% of the time. This level of confidence is staggering, and begs the question about how the agency can be so sure that each iPhone will be so responsive to its requests. Some are suggesting that Apple has helped the NSA in its endeavors, but that might be a conversation for another day.

It’s clear that US intelligence has access to things far beyond what most of us would have ever believed, and while the claims and counter-claims start to encroach on what we would expect out of a good spy movie, there appears to be no end to the revelations started by Edward Snowden earlier this year.

Scary stuff.

But the big question is: are you ready to be under that sort of surveillance 24/7? Or do you prefer to have privacy without anyone snooping around your private data?

(Source: TheDailyDot)

Cydia Substrate (Formerly Mobile Substrate) For iOS 7 & 64-bit Devices Released In Cydia!

Jay Freeman, the creator and maintainer of the alternative App Store for jailbroken devices, has updated Cydia Substrate (formerly Mobile Substrate) to version 0.9.5000. The recently released Evasi0n7 jailbreak managed to take everyone by surprise, including Freeman himself, but today’s news means that the final piece of the jailbreak puzzle is in place, leaving developers free to update their packages and extensions for Apple’s latest 64-bit devices such as the iPhone 5s and iPad Air.

The Evasi0n7 jailbreak has been with us for a week or so now, and although it is capable of successfully liberating all devices capable of running iOS 7.x it has been rendered somewhat useless from an end-user perspective without a functioning version of Cydia Substrate. Freeman, probably better known by his online name of Saurik, has acted swiftly to make Cydia iOS 7 friendly as well as pushing out this version of Substrate that stitches extensions and the operating system together.

The availability of Cydia Substrate version 0.9.5000 doesn’t immediately mean that every package on Cydia will function with newer devices. Apple’s iPhone 5s, iPad Air and new iPad mini with Retina are all powered by the company’s 64-bit A7 processor. Along with his announcement that Mobile Substrate has been released, Saurik has also made it known that extension and tweak developers will need to amend their own work and recompile the software with the ARM64 architecture in mind:

@Saurik: Substrate 0.9.5000 has been released, with support for iOS 7 and ARM64. (For extensions to work on ARM64, they must be recompiled to ARM64.)

We may not be over the final hurdle in terms of achieving a fully functioning jailbreak experience for 64-bit devices, but we can now finally see the finishing line. The availability of an updated Cydia Substrate means that developers will no longer have to find inventive ways around the limitations of the jailbreak. Updating packages and recompiling for ARM64 shouldn’t actually take that long so we should start to see a barrage of tweak updates landing on the default repositories fairly soon.

For those that don’t know about Substrate or what all the fuss is about then it’s worth knowing that it’s one of the most integral parts of a consumer facing jailbreak. Cydia Substrate is the framework that allows developers to provide run-time patches to default system functions within Apple’s mobile operating system. It’s also the framework that provides protection against system failures by putting the device into Safe Mode if anything goes wrong.

If you followed our previous guide on: How To Fix MobileSubstrate Tweaks On iOS 7 Without Any Side Effects and installed the “Mobile Substrate Fix” package, it is important to uninstall it before installing the new Cydia Substrate update from Saurik.

“Mobile Substrate Fix” package can be uninstalled by navigating to Cydia –> Manage –> Packages.

The new Cydia Substrate package can be installed by navigating to Cydia –> Changes and then tap on “Upgrade” from the top right.

How To Fix Evasi0n7 Configuring System 2/2 Error During Jailbreak

It’s certainly been a day for jailbreak news today, and it shows no sign of slowing down after jailbreak supremo Pod2g announced that a new version of Evasi0n7 had been released with the aim of fixing some important bugs. There’s one bug that it doesn’t fix though, and it’s a bug that we’ve been getting asked about quite a bit here at Redmond Pie.

It seems that quite a few people have been hitting roadblocks when trying to jailbreak their iOS device using Evasi0n7 from Evad3rs, with one particular step causing some problems for those using the tool. We’ve seen countless screenshots which show Evasi0n stuck on step 2/2, which is apparently the Configuring System (2/2) Evasi0n error. If left, the system simply sits there and nothing happens. Which, you know, isn’t conducive to a good jailbreak.

When asked the question on Twitter, Pod2g suggested that the fix for this is to try the jailbreak on a faster PC or Mac. According to him, this step uses ‘a race condition’ and speed is required here. A faster machine, so the story goes, should fix the problem.

@Pod2g: @brittagus told us that some people were stuck on the ‘configuring system 2/2′ step. It’s possibly because of a slow machine. Try on another

Unfortunately, people appear to be replying to Pod2g suggesting that they already have machines that should be more than capable of getting the job done. We suspect that the real truth is somewhere in the middle. Is it possible that those who are seeing issues have low amounts of free RAM, possibly running in a VM (Virtual Machine), or maybe their machines are also running apps that are using considerable system resources at the same time? Maybe. Maybe not.

What we would suggest is this though. Before trying to jailbreak anything with Evasion7, it might be worth rebooting the machine and then doing the jailbreak straight away. If that’s not an option, maybe just try closing anything that doesn’t need to be running on your PC or Mac while you perform the jailbreak. Either will hopefully help, assuming you’re not running the whole thing on something that’s older than you are, of course. If it still gives you the error, consider trying on a completely different machine altogether. That might just do the trick.

How To Fix ‘Failed To Fetch’ Cydia Error In iOS 7

If you’ve already taken the plunge and put your faith in the latest Evasi0n iOS 7 jailbreak, there’s a fairly good chance that you encounter server overload and a number of "Failed to Fetch" errors that seem to get dished out in the debug every time a package refresh is requested. This issue can be extremely problematic, but the good news is that it can be resolved relatively easily.

As you may know, Cydia is essentially an app that manages arbitrary repositories and handles the installation of packages through nominated repos. However, if any of the default repositories are offline or are having difficulty updating, then errors can be thrown up that can interfere and detract from the whole jailbreak experience. The current "Failed to Fetch HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found" errors that have been overshadowing the brand new jailbreak release are being most caused by the Ultrasn0w repository, but thankfully, a fix isn’t too hard.

Fix failed to fetch Cydia

photo 3

Step 1: Launch Cydia and select the Manage option from the bottom tab bar.

Step 2: Select Sources from the resulting list of options. A list of installation repositories will be presented. If this is a default installation of Cydia that then list will feature BigBoss, Cydia/Telesphoreo, Dev Team, ModyMyi and ZodTTD & MacCiti.

photo 1

Step 3: The problem is being caused by the Dev Team’s repository that hosts the Ultrasn0w software unlock package. Select the Edit option from the top right hand corner.

Step 4: Tap the Delete icon to the left hand side of the Dev Team repository. When a new Delete option appears on right side, tap on it to remove the repo.

photo 2 (1)

Step 5: Refresh Cydia and notice that the errors have now been removed from the log.

Removing the Ultrasn0w repository shouldn’t cause any real issues for the majority of device owners. However, there will inevitably be some individuals who will ultimately rely on a software based device unlock in the future. Adding the repository back to the list is as a simple as going to Manage > Sources > Add and then entering http://repo666.ultrasn0w.com as the repository address.

It is also important to note that the ‘Failed To Fetch’ error in Cydia applies to all such repos which are either down or have temporary connectivity issues. Removing all such repos from Sources section should fix the problem.

How To Lock Applications using the Touch ID

How To Lock Applications using the Touch ID  - We have waited three months to get our hands on untethered Jailbreak of iOS 7. This is one of the most important jailbreak because iOS 7 is the most radical version of iOS because it brings tons of new animations, wallpapers, themes and Ringtones. Moreover, Apple has introduced the new Touch ID in iPhone 5S, so we were waiting to see its more application. Well, the day has come and a developer has come forward by making an application which has been showcased.

 

This new application will lock applications and before the launch of a new application, users will have to unlock their iPhone using thumb via Touch ID. So, this provides next level security which we haven’t seen in the past. 

This is just the beginning, like Siri, we will many applications in the Cydia Store which will be related to the Touch ID. Let’s wait and see if another developer develops a more useful tweak related to the Touch ID.

Note: This tweak is not released yet, we will update you as soon as the tweak is released. 

iOS 6.1.3 – 6.1.5 Jailbreak for A5+ devices may be released tonight

                                    
If you didn’t make the move with most users to iOS 7 and you’re on an A5+ device, then we have some good news for you if you’re a jailbreaker.  iH8sn0w just confirmed recent queries as to when the iOS 6.1.3/6.1.4 jailbreak will be released with this tweet.

Unfortunately, if you’re on a Windows computer, you’re out of luck for the moment.  iH8sn0w previously tweeted that there would only be a tool for Mac and a Windows tool will come later. He tweeted this:

So, it will only be “days later” that there will be a tool for Windows. But, if you have a Mac and you’re waiting to jailbreak on iOS 6.1.3/6.1.4, then tonight should be the night.

If you’re upgraded to iOS 7 and you want to jailbreak right now, click here for an easy to follow tutorial.

Let us know in the comments if you stayed on iOS 6 and have been waiting for this jailbreak.

How To Fix MobileSubstrate Tweaks On iOS 7 Without Any Side Effects

Things have been getting very complicated in the world of jailbreaking over the last week or so. We had the initial excitement over the Evad3rs iOS 7 jailbreak, then the downer when people realized that it installed a suspect app store on Chinese devices.  Now we’re back into warm glow territory as Evad3rs explain their position and ditch that app store entirely. Now, finally, we can concentrate on the task at hand – getting some tweaks installed.

Unfortunately, as Saurik’s MobileSubstrate hasn’t been updated to fully support iOS 7 yet, there are a few issues to be seen. For instance, many jailbreak tweaks disappear after the device is rebooted, while others simply never take hold properly after installation. Obviously with the idea of a jailbreak tending to be to allow people to install third-party tweaks so that they can customize everything, this is a bit of a pain in the rear.

This only works on evasi0n 1.0.1 because it relies on the feature I had evad3rs add so I could solve this problem "correctly". In that light, it probably does work (it is not "dangerous" as I described the previous ones), but there is still little point in installing it because clearly a new build of Substrate would come out soon using this new feature I got from evad3rs ;P. (Which didn’t happen yet as I took Christmas Eve/Day mostly as a holiday.)

step 1
add this repo in cydia parrotgeek.net/repo

Step 2
open the repo packages

Step 3
find “Mobile Substrate Fix”

enjoy

iOS 7 Compatible Jailbreak Tweaks And Apps In Cydia

The iOS 7 untethered jailbreak is here. Things have been a little quiet recently on the topic of a public jailbreak release, leading us all to think that it could be quite some time until we were able to see how iOS 7 performs when truly set free. The good news is that the wait is finally over. The bad news is that early discussions and word from Cydia creator Jay Freeman seem to suggest that the latest Evasi0n7 release might have been rushed out before the right people could get the necessary components in place to support users.

One of the most concerning areas of interest seems to be the lack of involvement from Saurikhimself. We should all know by now that Cydia is a relatively small cog in the overall jailbreak machine, but nevertheless, it’s still a vitally important cog from the end-user’s perspective.Saurik has been using his Twitter timeline to inform his followers that he wasn’t told about the decision to release Evasi0n7, nor was he asked to provide an official iOS 7 version of Cydia to install alongside the jailbreak.

Freeman has also expressed concerns about the Evad3rs team not testing his official build of MobileSubstrate that had earlier been sent out to core developers within the iOS community. As things stand at the moment, anyone who jailbreaks using the initial release won’t have any Substrate support and therefore won’t be able to install any tweaks or offerings that rely solely on it. Pod2g, a security researcher and core member of the Evad3rs team, has also sent out the following tweet which echoes Saurik’s concerns:

Tweaks relying on mobilesubstrate have issues with early version of evasion. Keep away from that for the moment, we’re working on a fix.

The jailbreak loving iOS community have also been getting in on the action. A publicly accessible Google spreadsheet has already been created that lists a number of popular Cydia tweaks, outlining their current status and the device that they have been tested on. My3G andMyWi have both been confirmed to be working, as has PkgBackup. SBUtils and the extremely popular iFile are showing as have partial compatibility with iOS 7 with vital libraries likelibstatusbar causing full system crashes.

iOS 7 Tweaks Compatibility ListGo to spreadsheet view – Hide colors	Rows per page:   1-19 of 19
Users   Hackers / Developers

Row▲	Column A	Column B	Col C	Column D	Column E	Column F	Column G	Column H
	(All)(Blank)——————ActivatorBitCoin for Notification CenterCydiaEmphasizef.luxiFileMobile SubstrateMobileTerminalNameNCSettingsNoPowerDownPictureFrameCenterPreferenceLoadersbutilsSubstrate Safe ModeUIKit ToolsVolumeCustomizeZephyrZeppelin	(All)(Blank)——————0.10.9.3999.60.9.40010.9851.0.1-11.0.2-11.0.71.1.1-11.1.71.1.81.6.4-11.7.11.7.41.9.1-12.2.1-13.0.2-13.5520-2*Version	(All)(Blank)——————NoPartialWorking?Yes	(All)(Blank)——————All tweaks are not loaded, but status bar doesn't say "Exit Safe Mode."Crash to Safe ModeCrashes on LaunchCrashes to Safe ModeCustomizations show when fading, but white overlay hides it.DetailsDoesn't show up in SettingsFully FunctionalInjector Appears to be working until a reboot when a reinstall is neededMesses up screen colors to blue and white. White becomes blue and black becomes white until an uninstall & reboot.No EffectRegistration Fails even when linked with Cydiasblock, sblaunch, sburlschemes and sbnetwork broken. All others workuicache broken, uiudid useless	(All)(Blank)——————CoolStar's fork was tested, which has additional featuresNotessbdevice gives the wrong UDID.uicache spews out errors regarding SpringBoardServices. uiudid gives the wrong UDID.	(All)(Blank)——————/etc/launchd.conf is not used by iOS 7Advanced (Developer) DetailsDyld Lazy Loader failure due to changes in SpringBoardServices.JavaScriptCore.framework's location changed in iOS 7The API for Notification Center Widgets has changed completely in iOS 7	(All)(Blank)——————Device+VersioniPhone3,1-7.0iPhone3,1-7.0.2iPhone3,1,-7.0.2	(All)(Blank)——————Email any questions/concerns to coolstarorganization@gmail.com

1	Name	Version	Working?	Details	Notes	Advanced (Developer) Details	Device+Version	Email any questions/concerns to coolstarorganization@gmail.com
2	Activator	1.7.4	No	Crashes to Safe Mode			iPhone3,1-7.0.2
3	BitCoin for Notification Center	3.5	No	Doesn't show up in Settings		The API for Notification Center Widgets has changed completely in iOS 7	iPhone3,1-7.0.2
4	Cydia	1.1.8	No	Crashes on Launch		JavaScriptCore.framework's location changed in iOS 7	iPhone3,1-7.0
5	Emphasize	0.1	Yes	Fully Functional
6	f.lux	0.985	No	Messes up screen colors to blue and white. White becomes blue and black becomes white until an uninstall & reboot.			iPhone3,1-7.0
7	iFile	1.9.1-1	Partial	Registration Fails even when linked with Cydia			iPhone3,1-7.0
8	MobileTerminal	520-2*	Yes	Fully Functional	CoolStar's fork was tested, which has additional features		iPhone3,1-7.0
9	Mobile Substrate	0.9.4001	Partial	Injector Appears to be working until a reboot when a reinstall is needed		/etc/launchd.conf is not used by iOS 7	iPhone3,1-7.0
10	NoPowerDown	1.0.1-1	Yes	Fully Functional			iPhone3,1-7.0.2
11	NCSettings	1.7.1	No	Doesn't show up in Settings		The API for Notification Center Widgets has changed completely in iOS 7	iPhone3,1-7.0.2
12	PictureFrameCenter	3.0.2-1	No	Doesn't show up in Settings		The API for Notification Center Widgets has changed completely in iOS 7	iPhone3,1,-7.0.2
13	PreferenceLoader	2.2.1-1	Yes	Fully Functional			iPhone3,1-7.0.2
14	sbutils	1.0.2-1	Partial	sblock, sblaunch, sburlschemes and sbnetwork broken. All others work	sbdevice gives the wrong UDID.	Dyld Lazy Loader failure due to changes in SpringBoardServices.	iPhone3,1-7.0.2
15	Substrate Safe Mode	0.9.3999.6	Partial	All tweaks are not loaded, but status bar doesn't say "Exit Safe Mode."			iPhone3,1-7.0.2
16	UIKit Tools	1.1.7	No	uicache broken, uiudid useless	uicache spews out errors regarding SpringBoardServices. uiudid gives the wrong UDID.		iPhone3,1-7.0.2
17	VolumeCustomize	1.1.1-1	Partial	Customizations show when fading, but white overlay hides it.			iPhone3,1-7.0.2
18	Zephyr	1.6.4-1	No	Crash to Safe Mode			iPhone3,1-7.0.2
19	Zeppelin	1.0.7	No	No Effect			iPhone3,1-7.0.2

Go to spreadsheet view – Hide colors –Powered by Google Drive – Report Abuse

Rows per page:   1-19 of 19

The growing compatibility chart can also be accessed directly from this link. This latest jailbreak has only been out for a matter of hours and has already proved to be one of the most controversial. Something tells us the full story is yet to unfold.

5 Reasons Not to Jailbreak iOS 7 currently

evad3rs gave us a big surprise by releasing the iOS 7 jailbreak, however we would recommend weighing the pros and cons before jailbreaking your device.

Here’s the list of reasons why you should not jailbreak your device on iOS 7 – iOS 7.0.4 currently.

1. It’s buggy:

Quite a few people are reporting problems jailbreaking their device with evasi0n7. Most readers have reported that their device gets stuck at the Apple logo, and have been forced to restore their device to restore from backup.

evad3rs are working hard to fix the bugs, and will release an update shortly, so you may want to wait for the new versions of evasi0n7 to be released.

2. Jailbreak Apps and Tweaks not yet compatible

A lot of jailbreak apps and tweaks including the ones that rely on MobileSubstrate are not compatible with iOS 7. So you need to be very careful installing the jailbreak as it could result in a reboot loop, and you could be forced to restore your device. Based on the comments from our readers, it looks like some of the jailbreak tweaks are not working on iPhone 5s, which could be due to compatibility issues the 64-bit A7 chip.

We can’t blame Cydia developers as even they haven’t got any time to prepare for the jailbreak. We expect them to release updates for their jailbreak apps and tweaks shortly. Since one of the main reasons to jailbreak your device is to install these jailbreak tweaks, you will be disappointed when you can’t install your favorite tweaks after successfully jailbreaking your device.

3. Taig Chinese App Store

As you probably know by now, the evasi0n7 jailbreak installs the Taig Chinese App Store instead of Cydia if the language set on your device is Chinese. Despite evad3rs team’s clarifications, there are some serious privacy and piracy related concerns that have been raised about the Chinese App Store.

4. Stock iOS apps may not work

While this doesn’t seem to be affecting many users, we have heard some isolated cases where users are having problems with stock iOS apps like Mail and Safari.

5. Void warranty

Apple notes in a support article that “unauthorized modification of iOS is a violation of the iOS end-user software license agreement and because of this, Apple may deny service for an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch that has installed any unauthorized software.” Though you can always restore your device using iTunes to remove the jailbreak to avoid this situation.

We expect most of these issues to be addressed shortly so you can enjoy all the advantages of jailbreaking your device.