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When the iPhone OS 3.1 update rolled through town, it brought with it a handful of new features – but it also killed off one, not-so-official feature: unauthorized data tethering on AT&T.

Early this morning, the endlessly ingenious iPhone hacking community released Blacksn0w, a carrier unlock for the iPhone 3G and 3GS. Even if you have no need to plug in a different SIM card than what was originally intended, however, Blacksn0w still has its perks. Namely, it brings the aforementioned unauthorized data tethering right on back.

I've successfully Blackra1n'ed my iPhone 3Gs but it became somewhat unstable and finally forced itself into the recovery mode. For now I returned it to the factory setting and restored the data. Maybe I'd give it another try later.

Jailbreakers rejoice! If you've been holding off on updating to iPhone OS 3.1.2 to keep your jailbreaks or carrier unlocks intact, blackra1n and blacksn0w are here to rescue you. However, don't expect the jailbreaking fun to last forever—Apple is looking to hire a manager to lead a team to boost the iPhone platform's security.

blackra1n is a new jailbreaking tool for Mac OS X and Windows from iPhone hacker George Hotz, aka "GeoHot," who also created purplera1n earlier this year. With the addition of blacksn0w, users with iPhone OS 3.1.2 and its updated 05.11.07 baseband—the software that runs the cell radio—can unlock the phone and use it on whatever GSM/UTMS carrier they prefer. (Note that in the US, your only other option is T-mobile, and it won't work on 3G, only EDGE.) "Jailbreaking and unlocking have never been easier," GeoHot wrote on his blog. The tool promises faster jailbreaking, one-click hacktivation, unlocking, and enabling tethering support all in one app. blacksn0w will be added as a separate iPhone app on Cydia for unlocking if you've already jailbroken using PwnageTool or some other method.

blackra1n and blacksn0w do come with a few caveats. They only work in tethered mode with new iPhone 3GS and iPod touch models that use a different bootloader than older models. That means the device has to be tethered to a computer with blackra1n running whenever the device is rebooted; otherwise, the jailbreak is undone on reboot. Also, blacksn0w won't unlock the baseband on EDGE-only iPhones. For that, GeoHot recommends the BootNeuter tool.

On the iPhone, security exploits are essentially what make jailbreaking possible, and Apple is looking to beef up the security of iPhone OS. The company recently posted a job listing for an iPhone OS Platform Security Manager, which will oversee a team "focused on the platform security of iPhone OS." That team is tasked with ensuring "secure booting and installation of the OS"—which essentially would mean an end to jailbreaking. It's also responsible for "partitioning and hardening of security domains within the OS, cryptographic services, and risk analysis of security threats," and any potential manager will be asked to implement "a methodology for proactively finding security vulnerabilities."

(And since we're talking security, we'll take this opportunity to remind jailbreakers to go ahead and change the default passwords, just in case.)

Tighter security is good, but the more secure iPhone OS is, the harder it will be to jailbreak. It took some time and effort to get blackra1n—and particularly blacksn0w—working, and GeoHot warns that "[t]his may be the best iPhone users ever have it." Apple could—and likely will—patch the exploit that makes the jailbreak and unlock possible in the future.

blacksn0w is a free unlock for the latest iPhone 3G and 3GS
blackra1n is a super simple jailbreak used to install unlock
new visitors, go to blackra1n.com download and have fun

blackra1n RC3 is also live for both Windows and Mac!!! Clean firmware 3.1.2 and baseband 05.11.07 are recommended.

Updates:
Unlock!!!
Hacktivation
Keep legit activation if activated before running app
15 seconds faster, you'll feel it
Tiger + PPC support

Go to blackra1n.com to download
For support, blackra1n.support at gmail...but read this first

iClarified has made some nice tutorials:
Windows
Mac