Hackers Release Evasi0n7 iOS 7 Jailbreak

A group known as evad3rs has released the first jailbreak for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices running iOS 7 since the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system was released in September.

Evasi0n7 is compatible with iOS versions 7.0 through to 7.0.4 and allows users to install applications unavailable on the App Store, using unofficial marketplaces such as Cydia. The jailbreak works on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux and the evad3rs claims it can be installed in just five minutes through a USB connection.

It is recommended that interested parties back up their phone on iTunes or iCloud before they proceed and it’s worth mentioning that Apple will be most likely be unimpressed and is almost certainly working on a fix as we speak.

iOS 7 jailbreak

The hack is likely to be popular among those who want to free themselves from the restrictions placed on iPhones and iPads by Apple, but its authors have received criticism that the jailbreak makes it too easy to pirate software and is being used to conceal malware.

Evad3rs says the Evasi0n7  tool is secure and that it is “saddened” by the accusations, explaining that the obfuscation of its code is not to prevent security researchers from analysing the software, but to prevent easy repackaging from other parties. It adds that in any case, if a jailbreak attempted to conceal malware, it would be quickly spotted by the security community.

Chinese application store Taig comes preinstalled with the software when downloaded in China, but the marketplace contains numerous instances of pirated software – something which evad3rs says it was unaware of as it was too focussed on creating the code. It adds that Taig is working to remove pirated content from its platform.

Piracy concerns

“We are deeply sorry and embarrassed about the piracy that was seen today,” the group says. “All of us have spoken out vehemently against piracy in the past. We don’t believe it’s right for developers to not get paid for their work.

“In our agreement with Taig, we contractually bind them to not have piracy in their store. This was an extremely important precondition of working with them. In entering the agreement with them, we had hoped and continue to hope that our cooperation with Taig will improve the piracy situation in China.

“We are sorry. We will continue to monitor this issue and work to resolve it completely. Taig will be pulled from the jailbreak if it cannot be resolved.”

Evad3rs took a while to crack the previous major release of Apple’s mobile operating system as well, with a jailbreak for iOS 6 only emerging in February – several months after Apple made the update available.

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