Apple disabled jailbreak detection API in iOS 4.2
Less than six months after introducing it, Apple has quietly disabled its jailbreak detection API through the iOS 4.2 software update, according to a new report.
Network World reports that the API, which was released in June as part of a mobile device management (MDM) bundle for iOS 4.0, has been disabled in iOS 4.2, leaving perplexed vendors to question why. The API had previously allowed third-party MDM applications, such as AirWatch or Sybase's Afaria, to check for unauthorized modifications to the system files, author John Cox wrote.
Third-party MDM vendors had created their own utilities to check for jailbreaks, but Apple's jailbreak detection API granted MDM applications direct access to iOS system information. "We used it when it was available, but as an adjunct," said Sybase vice president of engineering Joe Owen. "I'm not sure what motivated their removing that....I've not had anyone [at enterprise customer sites] talk to me about this API being present or being removed."
