iPad 2 Smart Cover Exposes Security Flaw, Isn't So Smart After All

[Photo: Apple]Apple's Smart Covers are pretty cool--they attach magnetically to your iPad 2, and you can lock your iPad's screen simply by "closing" the cover. Lift the cover off the screen, and your iPad wakes right up. Unfortunately, members of the German forum Apfeltalk ("Apple Talk") discovered a bug in how iOS handles the Smart Cover that makes it possible to bypass the iPad's passcode screen. Yikes.

To trigger this glitch, hold down the power button and wait for the iPad to ask to power off. When that happens, place the smart cover over the tablet. Next, take the cover off again, cancel the power down, and you're in--no passcode required.

The bug generally seems to affect iPads running iOS 5, but 9to5Mac has also discovered that the issue is present on some that are still running iOS 4.3.

It's bad news, but it could be worse: While someone may be able to get onto your iPad using this trick, they'll only be able to get at whatever app you happen to have open. And if you left off at the homescreen, anyone who triggers this glitch won't be able to open anything; they'll only be able to see what apps you installed (although they can be rearranged or deleted if a prankster so desires). Spotlight is also fully functional.

Luckily, Apple is aware of the issue and is working on a fix. And for the time being, you can make it so your iPad doesn't automatically unlock when you open your Smart Cover; that way, even if someone uses this bypass trick, they'll only be greeted with the passcode screen. To change this setting, Open the Settings app, tap General, and change the setting for "iPad Cover Lock/Unlock" to "Off".

Check out 9to5Mac's video explaining the issue below:

[Apple Talk via 9to5Mac]

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Apple releases another security update for iPhone, iPad - msnbc.com

Apple

Not even two weeks have passed since Apple issued a security fix for iOS devices and we're already being prompted to update our gadgets again. The latest software download, iOS 4.3.5, is a minor update which fixes yet another rather pesky security vulnerability.

While Apple's description of the security update is a bit vague — it simply explains that if you don't download iOS 4.3.5, "an attacker with a privileged network position may capture or modify data in sessions protected by SSL/TLS" — the folks at Kaspersky Labs were able to clarify things a bit:

[T]he description implies that an attacker who has already compromised a machine on a given network and has the ability to see and identify SSL sessions might be able to decrypt the traffic and modify it. This kind of man-in-the-middle attack is quite common and would require the attacker to already have a foothold on the network in order to execute it.

In plainer words: Someone could intercept your web-surfing session and steal data — but only if he or she already has access to the network you're using.

You can get the update which will foil any plots to compromise your security in such a manner by plugging your iOS device into your computer and hitting the "check for updates" button in iTunes.

Do note that the 4.3.5 version is intended for the AT&T iPhone 4, the iPhone 3GS, the iPad 2, the iPad as well as third and fourth generation iPod Touch devices. Folks who own a Verizon iPhone 4 will find an update labeled 4.2.10instead — but it'll offer the same fix.

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Rosa Golijan writes about tech here and there. She's obsessed with Twitter and loves to be liked on Facebook. Oh, and she can be found on Google+, too.

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RIM’s Rival to IPad Wins Fans as Clients Seek Security

November 18, 2010, 4:35 PM EST By Hugo Miller

(Updates with closing shares in ninth paragraph.)

Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry PlayBook, the tablet designed to compete with the iPad from Steve Jobs’s Apple Inc., is winning corporate customers months before its debut.

Insurer Sun Life Financial Inc. has agreed to buy as many as 1,000 PlayBooks, and the Canadian banking unit of ING Groep NV says it is also committed to purchasing the device. Companies including Manulife Financial Corp. are testing the product, set to go on sale next quarter.

RIM first found success selling its BlackBerry smartphone to companies and is counting on such endorsements as it tries to challenge Apple’s dominance of the booming tablet market. RIM, based in Waterloo, Ontario, is betting on the PlayBook’s security features, such as e-mail encryption, to win over companies used to working with the BlackBerry.

“The encryption was really the clincher in opting for the PlayBook,” said Tom Reid, a Sun Life senior vice president. Sun Life plans to buy 500 to 1,000 PlayBooks initially and may boost that number as it begins to use it more widely, he said.

Apple declined to comment, spokeswoman Natalie Harrison said. Last month, Apple said more than 65 percent of the Fortune 100 companies are deploying or piloting the iPad, including Procter & Gamble Co., Lowe’s Cos. and Hyatt Hotels Corp.

The Cupertino, California-based company sold 3 million iPads in the first 80 days after the product debuted in April, showing there’s demand for a device that straddles the gap between laptops and smartphones like the BlackBerry and iPhone. Apple had a 95 percent share of the tablet market last quarter, according to Strategy Analytics.

Carving Out a Niche

Apple’s dominance “is a concern and I don’t think it would be prudent to project massive sales volume” for the PlayBook, said Tero Kuittinen, an analyst at MKM Partners LP.

Still, RIM has a chance to carve out a niche, said Stamford, Connecticut-based Kuittinen, who has a “buy” rating on the stock. Selling 3 million PlayBooks in 2011 would boost RIM’s sales and earnings “meaningfully,” he said. “This doesn’t need to be a six-to-eight-million unit device for RIM.”

RIM rose $1.33, or 2.4 percent, to $57.25 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading at 4 p.m. New York time. Apple gained $7.93, or 2.6 percent, to $308.43. RIM has dropped 15 percent this year as Apple climbed 46 percent.

‘Security Policies’

Besides adding a revenue source, the PlayBook is a chance for RIM to regain some momentum from Apple, whose iPhone has stolen market share from the BlackBerry and is beginning to win some corporate customers. Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. are considering whether to let employees use the iPhone as an alternative to the BlackBerry, three people familiar with the plans said this month.

Toronto-based Sun Life, Canada’s third-largest insurer, plans to let new pension plan members register directly on the RIM tablet and has already built a PlayBook application, the world’s first, Reid said.

For Amsterdam-based ING’s Canadian unit, familiarity with the BlackBerry makes the PlayBook appealing, Chief Information Officer Charaka Kithulegoda said.

“The PlayBook fits very nicely into the current infrastructure, architecture, security policies, everything that we have in place,” said Kithulegoda. “At the end of the day it comes down to these things.”

BlackBerry Investment

He said ING aims to buy an undisclosed number of PlayBooks for employees and is also building a banking app for customers.

The tablet is expected to connect to ING’s BlackBerry server computer “out of the box,” meaning the company won’t have many of the security worries it would face with an unfamiliar device, Kithulegoda said.

The PlayBook will sell for “under” $500, RIM co-Chief Executive Officer Jim Balsillie said in an interview this month. The iPad starts at $499 for a model with 16 gigabytes of memory and the price climbs for versions with more storage. The initial PlayBook version will connect to the Internet through either a Wi-Fi connection or by tethering it to a user’s BlackBerry.

Manulife, North America’s third-largest insurer, is testing the PlayBook as part of RIM’s PlayBook early-developer program, said Tom Nunn, a spokesman for the Toronto-based company. Manulife plans to use the PlayBook “to leverage our past investment” in BlackBerrys, said Nunn.

War of Words

PlayBook features built to appeal to business users are its twin cameras that enable videoconferencing, and a 7-inch (18- centimeter) screen that makes the device more portable and easier to fit in a bag or jacket pocket than the iPad.

Apple CEO Jobs said last month devices like the PlayBook are “dead on arrival“ because they are too small to compete with the iPad, which has a 9.7-inch screen.

That prompted RIM to post a clip of the PlayBook’s performance on the Web, comparing it to the iPad in performing several tasks, including surfing the Web and playing video. Balsillie said the clip shows the PlayBook is three to four times faster than its Apple rival.

ING’s Kithulegoda is sold on the PlayBook’s features. He just wants it to come to market faster and said he’s in talks with RIM to get the PlayBook as soon as he can for a trial.

“Yesterday would have been better, but I’ll settle for next year,” he said.

--With assistance from Adam Satariano in San Francisco. Editors: Ville Heiskanen, Peter Elstrom

To contact the reporter on this story: Hugo Miller in Toronto at hugomiller@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net

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