New Android, iPhone Warning—Do Not Make This 1 Change Hackers Love

Security researchers have issued a warning to smartphone users, particularly those who use Android and iOS devices. The warning comes after recent data showed that rooting or jailbreaking smartphones makes them 250 times more vulnerable to hacker attacks.

According to Zimperium's latest report, cybercriminals are using mobile-first attack strategies, which has made rooting and jailbreaking popular among users again. While these actions may seem harmless, they can have devastating consequences for smartphone security. Rooting and jailbreaking involve gaining deep access to the operating system, allowing users to make changes to system files and install almost anything they like.

"As cybercriminals have moved to a mobile-first attack strategy, rooting and jailbreaking of mobile devices, originally popular for customization, continues to be a very powerful attack vector," said Ignacio Montamat, a threat analyst for the zLabs team at Zimperium. "The security that is put in place by default is bypassed when a device is jailbroken or rooted."

Erlich Kron, a security awareness advocate at KnowBe4, added that when a device is jailbroken or rooted, users are running everything at an admin permission level. This means that the built-in operating system security controls that restrict unknown apps from running are bypassed.

"You can't simply restore the device to a secure state after installing the application," Kron explained. "This means that the security bypass remains in place in most situations and makes it easier for hackers to attack."

Why Should You Avoid Rooting or Jailbreaking Your Smartphone?

According to Zimperium's data, rooting devices leads to 3.5 times as many malware attacks, with system compromise by hackers rising by an incredible 250 times. This is a staggering increase in vulnerability that can have serious consequences for smartphone users.

A Personal Perspective: Why I Avoid Rooting and Jailbreaking

I'm a journalist who uses three smartphones daily – two iPhones and one Android. While I'm familiar with rooting and jailbreaking, I've never done so on my everyday devices. However, I have rooted an Android device for testing purposes in the past.

"I would only root devices that don't carry personal and valuable data," I said. "However, even then, I take great care to avoid any potential security risks."

A Word of Caution from Security Experts

Security experts are urging users to be aware of the additional risk involved in rooting or jailbreaking devices. "People who are interested in rooting or jailbreaking devices need to be very aware of the additional risk it puts them at," Kron said.

"Especially if this is a device being used on a daily basis," he added. "The security bypass remains in place, making it easier for hackers to attack."