Apple to fix hole in password-protected iPhones

Company promises to plug hole next month that exposes iPhone users' e-mail, text, and voice messages despite password protection.

Elinor Mills Former Staff Writer

Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service and the Associated Press.

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Elinor Mills

Aug. 28, 2008 4:12 p.m. PT

Apple plans to release a fix next month for a security hole that enables someone to access data on a password-protected iPhone, according to a MacWorld report.

The flaw lets anyone who gets ahold of the iPhone to circumvent the password protection and get access to e-mail, text, and voice messages.

"The minor iPhone security issue which surfaced this week is fixed in a software update which will be released in September," Apple spokeswoman Jennifer Bowcock wrote in an e-mail to Macworld.

Bowcock suggested that iPhone users set the device so that double-clicking the home button will take the user directly to the home screen, which will be the unlock screen if password protection is turned on.