If jailbreaking/rooting might compromise the phone’s security and void the warranty, why are some smartphone owners doing it? Deb Shinder outlines the benefits and more of the drawbacks of jailbreaking and rooting.
If jailbreaking/rooting might compromise the phone’s security and void the warranty, why are some smartphone owners doing it? Deb Shinder outlines the benefits and more of the drawbacks of jailbreaking and rooting.
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The primary purpose of jailbreaking in the context of smartphones is to allow the phone to install and run third-party applications that haven’t been approved by Apple. Phones that are not jailbroken can only run applications obtained through Apple’s App Store.
Jailbreaking was first used in regard to the Apple iPhone shortly after its release in 2007. In fact, the iPhone went on sale in the United States on June 29, 2007, and the first jailbreak was publicized on July 10, 2007. Soon groups dedicated to hacking the iPhone released jailbreaking applications so people without hacking skills could release their phones from Apple’s lockdown. PwnageTool for the iPhone 2G was released in 2008, and has been regularly updated. The current version of PwnageTool, 4.01, came out on June 22, 2010 and jailbreaks the new iOS 4.0.
Rooting is a term used in reference to the Android operating system to describe a similar process. In both jailbreaking and rooting, you take administrative control over the operating system. However, the purpose of rooting is a little different than jailbreaking.
Android phones are not locked into running only apps that come from the Android Marketplace, but some apps require rooting, as we discuss below in the “Why are they doing it?” section. Rooting also enables you to install a custom ROM to run versions of Android that the handset maker doesn’t supply or support. Mobile phone carriers often place limitations on the phones they provide, and rooting lets you circumvent those limitations.
Up until July 26, 2010, jailbreaking or rooting your phone was considered illegal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). That law, enacted in 1998, criminalized the circumvention of access controls technologies. However, the law also gives the Librarian of Congress the power to designate exceptions. This year’s ruling made an exception for software that enables a wireless phone to execute software applications (i.e., jailbreaking or rooting).
Although as far as I can tell, nobody was prosecuted for jailbreaking their phones prior to the legalization, some say Apple did threaten to do so. Note that the ruling only affects criminal prosecution; the ruling doesn’t address breach of contract. Therefore, if you signed a contract in which you agree not to jailbreak the phone, it doesn’t keep the phone vendors from issuing patches to “undo” your jailbreak or even brick your jailbroken phone.
Don’t call up your cellular carrier and ask for help jailbreaking or rooting your phone — the carriers and the phone makers hate the entire idea. That’s because it takes control away from them and gives it to the phone’s owner.
Phone manufacturers don’t want you to do it because of the small number of cases in which it can make the phone unstable or open it up to security breaches. It then makes them look bad because it’s their phone that’s crashing or introducing malware to your network.
Carriers hate it even more because it can cost them money. They even go so far as to “cripple” features that the phone makers build in, so they can charge you an extra fee for the same service. One example is Wi-Fi hotspot capability, for which carriers charge up to $30 per month when you can do the same thing on a rooted phone with no extra fees using a free or low, one-time-cost app. Some carriers also don’t want you running apps like Skype to make phone calls instead of using expensive cellular voice minutes.
Related TechRepublic post: Smartphone jailbreaking, and what vendors are doing about it.
Some of the benefits of jailbreaking and rooting include the following (depending on the limitations that the handset maker and/or carrier puts on a particular phone):
According to Jay Freeman, the founder of Cydia — software that aggregates repositories of “unofficial” apps for jailbroken iPhones in a sort of alternative App Store — about 10 percent of iPhones are jailbroken.
It’s difficult to find figures on the number of rooted Android phones, but based on the forums, a significant number of users are doing it.
On the one hand, the motivation to jailbreak the iPhone is stronger because Apple keeps such tight control over the apps you can install. On the other hand, Android users seem to be more apt to be techy types, and techy types are more likely to modify their phones.
Even though there are one-click apps to do it for you, most of my friends and relatives who have iPhones or Android phones were unfamiliar with the idea of jailbreaking/rooting before I asked them about it, and even those who knew about it were afraid to do it.
The primary reason for my friends’ cautious approach was the fear that they would “mess up” their phones and turn the devices into $400 bricks. And it’s true that if you do it incorrectly, you could end up with a useless device, especially when installing a custom ROM. However, you can restore the phone to the factory settings if you mess up. Note: This will wipe out your data and any apps you’ve installed. Always back up your personal data whether or not you jailbreak/root your phone.
Perhaps a more important concern is that jailbreaking/rooting can compromise the security and/or reliability of your smartphone. Remember, these phones are actually full-fledged computers, albeit small ones. The devices are vulnerable to malware and attacks just like laptop and desktop systems. An advantage of getting apps from Apple’s App Store is that the apps have been tested thoroughly. This applies, to a lesser extent, to the Android Marketplace.
Unofficial apps can contain malicious code, or they may just be poorly written and cause your phone’s OS to crash. When applications have root access, they can do a great deal of harm to your phone’s software.
In addition, jailbreaking or rooting your phone may void the warranty. Read your contract to find out.
Finally, some of the custom ROMs work the phone’s memory and processor harder, and this may result in decreased battery life.
If you decide the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, there are a number of tools available to help you with jailbreak or root your phone.
You can use the redsn0w or the Spirit utility to jailbreak the iPhone 3G. JailbreakMe is another utility that has a new version for jailbreaking the iPhone 4. (Jailbreaking is becoming so popular that recently Apple blocked access to the JailbreakMe.com web site on their in-store Wi-Fi networks, but this did little to deter determined jailbreakers.) You can also watch a CNET video on how to jailbreak your iPhone or iPod Touch. (Here’s the link to jailbreakmatrix.com, which is referenced in the video.)
Apple released an update, iOS 4.0.2, to stop the jailbreak software from working, but there’s a way around it for the iPhone 3G.
Rooting your Android phone is a little more complicated, in part because there are so many Android models. For example, here is a set of instructions on how to root the Motorola Droid 2.1. There are one-click rooting tools for various Android phones; here’s a program that works with the Droid X (Figure A). Rooting the HTC EVO 4G is only slightly more complex with this tool.
Figure A
Search the web for “one click root” and your phone’s model name, and/or peruse the popular smartphone forums to find out more about how to root your particular handset model and OS version.
DEBRA LITTLEJOHN SHINDER is a technology consultant, trainer and writer who has authored a number of books on computer operating systems, networking, and security. These include Scene of the Cybercrime: Computer Forensics Handbook, published by Syngress, and Computer Networking Essentials, published by Cisco Press. She is co-author, with her husband, Dr. Thomas Shinder, of Troubleshooting Windows 2000 TCP/IP and the best-selling Configuring ISA Server 2000, ISA Server and Beyond and Configuring ISA Server 2004. \ \ Deb is also a tech editor, developmental editor and writer to over twenty additional books on subjects such as the Windows 2000 and Windows 2003 MCSE exams, CompTIA Security+ exam and TruSecure?s ICSA certification. She formerly edited the Brainbuzz A+ Hardware News and currently edits Sunbelt Software?s WinXP News (www.winxpnews.com) and Element K's Inside Windows Server Security journal. Her articles are regularly published on TechRepublic?s TechProGuild site and Windowsecurity.com, and have appeared in print magazines such as Windows IT Pro (Windows & .NET) Magazine. She has authored training material, corporate whitepapers, marketing material, and product documentation for Microsoft Corporation, GFI Software, Hewlett-Packard, DigitalThink, Sunbelt Software, CNET and other technology companies. \ \ Deb currently specializes in security issues and Microsoft products; she has been an MCSE since 1998 and has been awarded Microsoft?s Most Valuable Professional (MVP) status in Windows Server Security. A former police officer and police academy instructor, she lives and works in the Dallas-Ft Worth area and teaches computer networking and security and occasional criminal justice courses at Eastfield College in Mesquite, TX.
