New iPhone 3GS Not So Hacker Proof

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It's a good thing the "S" in iPhone 3GS stands for "speed" and not "security". Otherwise, Apple might have to rename it.

As it is, the name is the least of the PR Department's worries right now in Cupertino after a recent round of reports claiming the new iPhone's encryption takes only minutes to hack and requires nothing more than easy-to-find freeware tools to get the job done.

When the new iPhone came out earlier this summer, security was a big selling point with Apple desperate to reel in those corporate users who can't afford to sacrifice safety for bling.

You don't see the President walking through the Rose Garden with a 3GS strapped to the First Belt. That would be a super secure Blackberry that would make Q from the James Bond movies jealous.

Here's quite a dis' on the iPhone 3GS from an actual iPhone developer:

"It is kind of like storing all your secret messages right next to the secret decoder ring. I don't think any of us [developers] have ever seen encryption implemented so poorly before, which is why it's hard to describe why it's such a big threat to security."

- Jonathan Zdziarski, an iPhone developer and a hacker who teaches forensics courses

Ouch!

Renee Oricchio is a technology writer and former supervising news producer for CNN Financial News. She has been covering the computer industry since 1987. @oricchio