VietNamNet Bridge - Experts from the Bach Khoa Anti-virus Center (BKAV), the leading network security firm in Vietnam, have found signs showing that the tool used to jailbreak iPhone is capable of collecting information from iCloud accounts. It said the tools provided by third parties cannot be trusted. 

Facebook users said that 3uTools (at 3u.com), a jailbreak tool, may contain Trojan. 

3uTools is a general tool with many functions, including firmware flashing However, it has been mostly used to jailbreak iPhone to have more interesting apps. 3uTools has been very popular in Vietnam.

However, the bad news is that some users, when scanning on VirusTotal, the online virus, malware and URL scanner at virustotal.com, have discovered Trojan.

Meanwhile, the administrator of the fanpage which supports 3uTools said that 3uTools is a safe tool, and that the online scanner may have errors, stating that misunderstanding will be cleared as soon as possible.

However, the internet security experts from BKAV conducted thorough research on the issue and have made some conclusions.

BKAV, the leading network security firm in Vietnam, have found signs showing that the tool used to jailbreak iPhone is capable of collecting information from iCloud accounts.

They said the "i4picture" app store which the Chinese version of the tool (at i4.cn) automatically installs on iPhone after a jailbreak is capable of collecting information from iCloud accounts such as Apple ID and password, and then reporting to the server in China during transmission between iPhone and Apple’s server. No one can say for sure if the information is safe.

Ngo Tuan Anh, deputy president of BKAV, a renowned security expert, said that the developers can install ‘i4picture’ additionally to the English version of 3uTools at any time and with more malicious software, while users cannot realize this.

However, he said that currently, the influence to Vietnamese users is not too serious.

In most cases, jailbreak tools, in early stages, only have Chinese versions and they all are allowed to install strange apps, while users don’t care about this. BKAV plans to examine the jailbreak tools in the time to come.

BKAV’s experts have strongly recommended not to jailbreak phones if not necessary. Jailbreaking means going beyond the system control, while tools provided by third parties are not trustworthy. 

Anh said there was a growing tendency of spreading malware by providing official software associated with viruses. 

Jailbreak is recognized as a legal action in the US laws after the US government amended the DMCA (digital millennium copyright act), legalizing the jailbreak of smartphones in 2010.

However, Apple has shown its strong opposition to the interference to its products, saying that jailbreaking may make iPhones vulnerable to attacks.

The smartphone manufacturer also said that any changes to its products will violate its maintenance 

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