Most smart devices (mainly smartphones and tablets) have software restrictions to prevent users from performing some developer-like operations. However, this is not an impassable limit in the real world because, as ethical hacking experts mention, users can rely to the jailbreak, a tool to remove restrictions on these devices, allowing users to customize their experience to the maximum.
According to Wikipedia, Apple is one of the manufacturers that imposes the most software restrictions on its products and, as such, faces almost permanent attacks by users who want to release an iPhone or iPad. There are multiple online communities made up of enthusiastic users of this type of tool, one of the most prominent is the /r/jailbreak Reddit forum, which has almost 500k members, although these groups do not escape the surveillance of the tech giant.
Ethical hacking experts mention that problems at this forum began when Reddit received multiple notices of Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) infringements related to a number of forum posts related to Checkra1n and UNc0ver, two jailbreak tools for iOS.
Subsequently, one of the forum moderators posted an update to the incident: “Reddit legal team decided to delete 5 posts related to two jailbreaks. We don’t know exactly what copyright law we broke, the administrators didn’t tell us anything else; they just removed the posts.”
Many users familiar with the jailbreak community immediately related what happened on the Reddit forum to a tweet posted hours before that contained an Apple decryption key. After the company filed a complaint through Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP firm, the tweet was deleted, although hours later it was posted again. So far the post is still online.
Although everything points to Apple being behind censorship on Twitter and Reddit, the administrators of /r/jailbreak had not received a satisfactory or clear response regarding the alleged infringement they committed against DMCA, ethical hacking experts mention.
SOURCE: Twitter
Due to the lack of responses, the moderators of the Reddit forum decided to block access to the platform, at least temporarily. “Block subreddit is a ‘standard’ measure in these situations. We’re trying to prove to Reddit that we’re ready to fix the problem,” says one of the moderators of /r/jailbreak. “These DMCA warnings end with a warning or eviction,” the moderators add.
According to ethical hacking specialists from the International Institute of Cyber Security (IICS), Reddit, unlike Google or Twitter, does not usually make DMCA non-compliance notifications publicly available, complicating the clarification of the alleged offences committed by jailbreak forum moderators.
Hours later, one of the forum moderators posted on his Twitter account that the issue had already been resolved, so the forum would be enabled again. Finally Reddit administrators posted a welcome message to the forum, so the issue seems settled.
However, it is not yet clear whether Apple is actually behind the attempted censorship against this Reddit forum, although the fact that the forum remains online is certainly good news for jailbreak community enthusiasts.
He is a well-known expert in mobile security and malware analysis. He studied Computer Science at NYU and started working as a cyber security analyst in 2003. He is actively working as an anti-malware expert. He also worked for security companies like Kaspersky Lab. His everyday job includes researching about new malware and cyber security incidents. Also he has deep level of knowledge in mobile security and mobile vulnerabilities.
