It appears Apple has stepped-up its battle with hackers, reportedly banning at least two App Store accounts for “security reasons.” The action comes after a long-running tug-of-war between the Cupertino, Calif. company and hackers releasing ways to avoid iPhone security.
Monday, a hacker known as “Sherif” told his Twitter followers Apple had banned his ID. “They must be really angry, he wrote, following the comment by a smiley face emoticon. Another hacker, known as “iH8sn0w,” and the person behind the XEMN tool said to unlock iPhone 3.1.3 baseband for the 3G and 3GS, also reported being banned from the App Store.
Since the iPhone’s release with AT&T as the exclusive carrier, hackers have looked for ways to bypass the handset’s software, “unlocking” the phone and enabling them to be used on other wireless networks. In November of last year, Apple placed an ad seeking an “iPhone Security Manager” with the chief goal to “set the roadmap for the iPhone OS platform security.”
In October of last year, Apple updated the boot-rom for the iPhone 3GS to counteract hacker’s “jailbreak” tools, such as PwnageTool. Aside from hackers, Apple may be acting to prevent further erosion of App Store revenue by piracy. In January, we reported that an estimated $450 million had been lost to piracy. Three times as many paid applications are being pirated than sold, according to a financial publication. Apple receives 30 percent of each App Store title sold.
[Via RedmondPie and 9to5Mac]
