iPhone: Password Reveal Hack, Nano Incoming?

Passwords can be a pain sometimes. You set up your iPhone with all your passwords but end up losing it, and some hacker now has access to all your accounts in under six minutes. Horror situation, much? A group of German researchers are claiming it's actually true, and that they can extract any passwords saved using the Keychain password management system of the iPhone in under six minutes.

Don't lose it. Don't lose it.

All hackers need to do is remove the SIM card from the iPhone, jailbreak it and SSH a Keychain access script onto the phone. Within six minutes, passwords for Microsoft Exchange accounts, Wi-Fi, VPNs and even passwords for some Apps. The only way to avoid disaster is to change your passwords immediately after losing your iPhone, say the researchers at the state-sponsored Fraunhofer Institute Secure Information Technology.

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There’s a video out showcasing the hack, check it out below.

In other, more positive news, you could have the iPhone Nano as one of the options for your next purchase if you do end up losing your iPhone. According to Bloomberg, Apple's planning on releasing a smaller, cheaper version of the iPhone without any carrier locks. The estimated price is around $200, and it will also be a dual-SIM (dual-microSIM?) version that supports both GSM and CDMA.

If that is true, it gives the iPhone the much needed versatility to fend off competition from Android and its deluge of devices. Most of the other platforms have devices that span across many price ranges, but Apple has continued to limit itself to just one, which could be putting it at a disadvantage just in terms of sheer numbers. However, the iPhone Nano could change all that.

Could this be the home-button less iPhone that was rumoured a while ago?