Ever since Apple released the iOS 6.1 update for iPhones, iPads, and some iPod Touch models weeks ago, there have been issues cropping up with connectivity, compatibility, and battery use. Now there's a huge security flaw that is getting attention, thanks to a video posted to YouTube.
The hack, originally uploaded by YouTube user videosdebarraquito, shows how iOS 6.1 can be hacked to bypass the iPhone's lockscreen in just a few steps. Though it's purportedly difficult to time correctly, the bypass could allow a stranger's practiced hand to hack past your security passcode rather quickly.
To bypass, you start by pressing the home button on an in-use iPhone and "slide to unlock" to bring up the lockscreen. At the lockscreen, you hit the "emergency call button," and then hold down the sleep button to bring up the shutoff prompt. Cancel out of that, and then dial "911" (in the United States) but hang up the call before it goes through.
Then, you hit the sleep button, then home button, and slide to unlock again in order to bring up the lockscreen one more time. This is where the timing comes in. If you hold the sleep button now for 3 seconds and then hit the emergency call button one more time on 3, the iPhone will unlock. As long as you're holding the sleep button, you can scroll through the phone order's contacts, notes, and anything else you might want to steal. Here's a recent video featuring the step-by-step process.
Though it seems like a lot to go through to bypass security, but in the video, the hack takes less than a minute - which is more than enough time for a stranger to access your data with your back turned. Here's the original video found by Gizmodo UK: