iOS Jailbreak Latest News & Update: iOS 12.1 Successfully Bypassed by Tencent KeenLab Researcher

A Tencent Keenlab researcher recently confirmed on Twitter that his jailbreak method successfully bypassed the latest iOS 12.1 that is running devices of XS MAX, Apple, and iPhone. Named Liang Chen, the researcher said that it was the iPhone XS Max that helped him bypass the security measures of the operating system.

Although the method was prevalent in the early days of smartphone proliferation, it has since become notoriously difficult to jailbreak devices. This is especially true for Apple products as the company outfits their devices with security measures such as the A12 Bionic chip, Siasat reported.

The recent announcement by Chen confirms that the jailbreak method is still possible today and hackers still have the upper hand when it comes to lifting restrictions on certain devices. Apple places these barriers in order to prevent end users from accessing features that the company doesn’t allow, which can be quite the headache sometimes.

But even though Chen successfully jailbreak the recent iOS 12., it’s likely that the researcher wouldn’t share the step by step process on how to accomplish it. Most of the time, researchers would opt to sell their code to third-parties to hackers and developers, or submit it to Apple in order for the company to fix the exploited pathway.

While others would point out that the jailbreak method is prohibited, it’s actually not. Jailbreaking has been made legal way back in 2012 when exemptions to the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) was made possible by the Library of Congress.

The jailbreak method also got a recent win as the US Copyright Office made some serious alteration to the DMCA. One of these is the right of users to freely alter voice-assistants in devices that can be seen on products like Google Assistant or Amazon’s Alexa.

Other exemptions also include allowing tinkerers to unlock new phones, not just used ones. General exemptions for repairing smartphones, home systems, and home appliances. And allowing people to ask the help of third-parties to do such repairs for them. As for Chen and his new jailbreak method, he’s reportedly going to present it at the POC 2018 although specifics will not be unveiled during the gathering.