A jailbreaker just became the target of hackers who tried to break his SSH password. Here’s how you can protect yourself from such attacks.
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Russian Hackers brute force a jailbroken device
Although such attacks are rare within the jailbreak community, some of them still crop up out of nowhere. Once a hacker gets SSH access to your device, there are tons of methods to absolutely ruin your device.
Some hackers tried to brute force the password of a jailbreaker by using commonly used usernames. Funnily enough, the username “pi” also suggests that they think this iPhone is a Raspberry Pi.
All these IP addresses originate somewhere from Russia. Here’s a screenshot from the user posted online.
Apparently, he also had enabled port forwarding, which made his iPhone vulnerable to such attacks.
Thankfully, he has DropbearAlert Cydia tweak by Julioverne. Had this tweak been missing from his device, he wouldn’t have been to know that someone was trying to break into his device.
Is this dangerous?
While this may not look dangerous at the very outset, any hacker can use this attack to access your photos and other data.
In reality, It all comes down to breaking your root password.
Once that’s done, all they need to do is successfully SSH into your iOS device and your data will be compromised. Moreover, the hacker can also completely wipe all the data from your device.
Here’s how you can protect your iPhone, iPad, and iPod using these basic security tips.
How to Protect your device from SSH attacks
1. Protect your WiFi network
Firstly, having a good firewall that mitigates such attacks should be your number one priority. Ensure that your home WiFi network is secure with a reputable Firewall software.
This is the most basic security tip that I recommend to everyone whether they use a jailbreak or not.
2. Change your Root Password
Secondly, change your root password. Had the user’s password remained “alpine”, anyone would have been able to log in to the device in the very first attempt.
This is important if you often find yourself using insecure WiFi networks. Even if you use a private network, it’s a good security practice that everyone should follow.
3. Stay away from Public networks
Most public networks are secure these days but a lot of them still rely on older security standards. This can expose your device to hackers regardless of whether you have a jailbroken device or not.
Therefore, I highly recommend all users to avoid using public networks such as the one available in Starbucks, hotels, etc, especially if you are jailbroken.
4. Uninstall OpenSSH
If you don’t find OpenSSH Cydia tweak useful, I suggest you delete it as soon as possible. Uninstalling it will disable remote access to your device ensuring no hacker can break in. That’s all there’s to it!
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wait a second, whats the point of the openssh tweak?
It allows remote access to your device.