Charlie Miller and Collin Mulliner told the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas that the hack works by slightly modifying the data - sent by the network and which the user does not see - that arrives as part of a text message.
The system that processes such messages is similar across different operating systems and can, once compromised, gain access across a range of applications including a phone's address book or camera.
The team say that hackers could develop programs to exploit the weakness in as little as two weeks, but told the conference that publicising the means of attack was necessary to ensure the problem was addressed.
Apple to release fix for iPhone SMS flaw on Saturday
Posted on Friday, July 31 2009 @ 20:37 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck