Jailbreakers find hole in Apple's iOS 4.1 just hours after release

Apple announced the latest version of its operating system, iOS 4.1 this morning, only to have hackers find a way to jailbreak devices running that OS within hours.

Jailbreaking - the process which unlocks the operating system run by iPhones, iPads and iPads - allows users to run non-Apple approved software on their devices. It's something of an ongoing battle, as Apple tries to shore up its OS to avoid such behaviour, and hackers invent new and innovative ways to get in. A ruling by a US court in July confirmed that jailbreaking is not illegal; or at least that it doesn't break any copyright laws. Apple is not giving up the fight, though:  just last month a patent filing became public for technology which would give the company a 'kill-switch' to use on jailbroken devices.

This round, however, definitely goes to the hackers; with a way into the OS announced on Twitter just hours after 4.1 was released. Not only were hackers able to unlock the OS, but it seems that - unlike previous jailbreaks - this way in exploits something so integral to the system that Apple won't even be able to patch the hole with a software update.

All iPads, iPhones and iPod touches shipped since November are  believed to contain the same component, meaning that all such devices can be jailbroken in this way; although the advice for would-be jailbreakers is to stick with iOS 4 and not upgrade to 4.1 until the hack has been refined.