Jobs: Security concerns delaying iPhone SDK
Apple's CEO Steve Jobs promised on Wednesday that the company would release a software development kit for creating third-party applications on the iPhone by February, adding that the need for security has slowed the release.
The statement appeared on Apple's site as a letter from Jobs to Apple's customers, where he stressed that the company wants native third-party applications running on Apple's mobile device. However, the company refuses to risk adding possible vectors for attack and wants to make sure the iPhone maintains adequate security, Jobs said.
"This is no easy task," he stated in the letter. "Some claim that viruses and malware are not a problem on mobile phones -- this is simply not true. There have been serious viruses on other mobile phones already, including some that silently spread from phone to phone over the cell network. As our phones become more powerful, these malicious programs will become more dangerous.
Hardware hackers worldwide worked over the summer to crack the iPhone's protection in order to use the device on carriers besides AT&T or load third-party software onto the system. However, an update to the iPhone froze modified or unlocked devices and reportedly caused problems with some unmodified phones as well, angering users. Apple had warned customers prior to releasing the update, which upgraded the iPhone to version 1.1.1, that the software patch could disable any phone that had been modified.
Two lawsuits have been filed against Apple following the software upgrade.
jobs:安全顾虑延缓iphone软件开发工具
苹果公司的ceo Steve jobs星期三保证，公司将会在二月份发行一个软件开发工具用来在IPhone上创造第三方的应用软件，并补充说由于安全的考虑已经减缓了发行。
这个声明作为jobs给用户的一封信发表在苹果公司的站点上，他强调说公司希望本土第三方应用软件运行在苹果的移动主设备上。但是公司拒绝为攻击增加可能的载体所承担的风险并且希望能确保iphone保持适当的安全，jobs说。
“这不是一个容易的任务”他在信中说，“一些人声称的在移动电话中的病毒和恶意程序都不是问题，这根本不是实事。在其他的移动电话上已经有很严重的病毒出现，包括一些通过蜂窝网络从一个电话到另外一个电话静默传播的病毒。当我们的电话变的越强大，这些恶意程序也将变的更严重”。
硬件黑客在这个夏天在全球范围破坏iphone的保护机制，目的是为了在AT&T除外的运营商上利用这个设备或者是在系统上加载第三方软件。但是一个对iphone的更新冻结了修改过或没有加锁的设备并据说对于未修改的iphone也引起了问题，此举激怒了用户。苹果曾警告过用户先释放掉版本号为1.1.1的更新，这个版本的软件补丁能够禁用任何被修改过的电话。
已经有两件针对苹果公司软件升级的诉讼案例。