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Hackers unveil latest Apple iOS 6 jailbreak website

The untethered jailbreak software will go through testing before it is released

Apple software hackers unveiled a website late Wednesday where the latest untethered jailbreak is expected to be released soon.

An elite team of hackers has been working for months to develop an untethered jailbreak for iOS 6, Apple's latest operating system, which would allow users to customize their phones and install applications not vetted by Apple.

The website, evasi0n.com, said the jailbreak will work on all iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and iPad mini models on iOS 6.0 through 6.1.

The team, which calls itself the "Evad3rs," is composed of the hacker known on Twitter as "@pod2g," David Wang (@planetbeing on Twitter); Eric McDonald (@musclenerd) and Nikias Bassen (@pimskeks). They also launched a new Twitter handle, "@evad3rs," which had more than 77,000 followers in a short time.

Wang wrote on Twitter on Tuesday: "In terms of release date, we're aiming for approximately a week out, but it's possible it will come sooner or later than that."

A tethered jailbreak exists, but it means the iOS 6 device must be connected to a computer. The jailbreaking process must also be repeated if the phone is rebooted, making it a less-than-ideal solution.

Though legal in the U.S. under an exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Apple discourages jailbreaking and can void warranties for altered devices. It also markedly stepped up its security stance in iOS 6.

In October, Wang and McDonald said at the Hack in the Box security conference in Kuala Lumpur that it was becoming more difficult to find several vulnerabilities needed for a new jailbreak.

Wang indicated earlier this month that the team was making progress, but that it wanted to wait until Apple released iOS 6.1 before releasing the jailbreak. Apple typically patches vulnerabilities in its software that allow jailbreaks. Releasing the jailbreak after Apple issues an update to the mobile operating system means users will have more time to jailbreak before Apple nixes vulnerabilities.

Apple released iOS 6.1 on Monday, which fixed several bugs, including a kernel bug found by Mark Dowd of Azimuth Security. Other patches fixed problems with Wi-Fi and the Webkit browser layout engine in Safari.

Send news tips and comments to jeremy_kirk@idg.com. Follow me on Twitter: @jeremy_kirk

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