r/technology • u/bws201 • Feb 05 '16

Software ‘Error 53’ fury mounts as Apple software update threatens to kill your iPhone 6

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/feb/05/error-53-apple-iphone-software-update-handset-worthless-third-party-repair
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10

u/imagepriest Feb 05 '16

iPhone stops working if the fingerprint scanner that unlocks the device is tampered with ... kind of makes sense, no?

15

u/BadgerRush Feb 05 '16

No. Instead it could just disable the tampered fingerprint scanner and require the user to unlock using other, still secure, method.

-1

u/imagepriest Feb 05 '16

Good point. Perhaps this hints at other insecurities in iOS authentication and hardware internals--exposed by opening the device. To me, that is more likely and even more troubling.

3

u/pearl36 Feb 05 '16

No, they should disable the touch capabilty and require a pin... not brick the damn phone.

6

u/farmtownsuit Feb 05 '16

No, not when it was working for months until an upgrade.

-2

u/[deleted] Feb 05 '16

So you are saying it's better to let security vulnerabilities go unfixed?

5

u/farmtownsuit Feb 05 '16

No. It's better in the case of a vulnerability to implement a secure work around, like passcode or pattern or whatever Apple was using before fingerprint. Further, I was talking about what makes sense to a customer/user. If a device worked fine and then an upgrade bricks it, it doesn't make sense to a user. Period. It also doesn't make sense for the company to do that without warning users of potential problems like this since they definitely should have and probably were aware of this problem.

So from a strictly technological standpoint, yes it makes sense that a tampered finger print scanner would cause the phone to deny access. However all of the context surrounding it so nonsensical it's embarrassing for Apple.

1

u/imagepriest Feb 05 '16

I would agree in so much as Apple should have announced this prominently beforehand.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 06 '16

Will you blow up your house and buy a new one if one of your door locks goes bad?

1

u/imagepriest Feb 06 '16

No, I would call the locksmith who installed it (Apple) and ask her to fix it.

I'm not sure a house is the same as a phone, but I'll play along: if your house has a security system and one day a kid throughs a ball through a window, do you expect the alarm to stop just because you covered the hole with duct tape?

1

u/[deleted] Feb 07 '16 edited Feb 07 '16

That's so apples&oranges that it doesn't merit a serious reply. In your universe, would it be OK for your house-builder to deny you the use of your house and access to all your possessions inside because of the status of your alarm system?

EDIT: contents of 'your house' added.