This Kerala youth crackssecure' Apple lock

[email protected] (News Network)
December 3, 2016

Kochi, Dec 3: Hemanth Joseph, an engineering student, has found out a route to bypass Apple's highly secure activation lock, which allows the owner to prevent others from using the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch or Apple Watch once it is stolen or lost.

Kerala
"I found out a way to bypass the lock screen when somebody tries to open any of devices, locked by the owner using 'Find iPhone' app," said Joseph, a final-year mechanical engineering student at Amal Jyothi College of Engineering, Kanjirappally.

What Joseph used was the security lapse in the input fields for name, username and password. "There was no character limit in those input fields. No one will set a Wi-Fi name with a 10,000-letter name or a password with 10,000 letters so a character limit is important for fixing this bug," Joseph wrote in his blog, after his friends prompted him to reveal how he did it.

It all started with Joseph buying a used iPad from eBay for his friend and finding out that it was locked by the previous owner. While playing around with the 'bricked' tablet, he found out that it doesn't have a character limit for input fields for the verification before connecting to the 'another Wi-Fi network' option. "We can enter as many characters as we like to that field. Perfect for creating an OverFlow," he wrote in his blog.

Joseph, who calls himself a 'security researcher', ventured into the world of 'bug hunting' at a relatively young age - while studying for plus two. Few months ago, he won US$ 7,500 (Rs 5 lakh) from Google for pointing out a bug in its Cloud platform. Similar feats won him acknowledgements from more than 45 companies, which include AT&T, Pebble, Twitter and Microsoft. This time, Apple has written to him saying they are investigating the issue.

Comments

Ahmed K. C.
 - 
Saturday, 3 Dec 2016

Brilliant! No doubt we have good brains.
It has been 43 years since the first mobile phone invented by Motorola, I don't think we indians have our own full fledged mobile manufacturing unit in India at all. All assembled phone parts are imported from China.

Ansari
 - 
Saturday, 3 Dec 2016

Best Of luck My INDIAN Brother ....

For Viren , this is an IT Crusade i think

Keep it up Joseph

Jeevan Jyothi
 - 
Saturday, 3 Dec 2016

why always talent like this is coming from kerala.

Laxman
 - 
Saturday, 3 Dec 2016

Brilliant!Congratulations! Ideal engineering student,need of the hour,we need more from such people who are capable of skill development.

Smrithi
 - 
Saturday, 3 Dec 2016

So iOS too is insecure ... wonder why the BJP is pushing for demonetization when a card can be hacked in 6 seconds ... bunch of hypocrites and deshdrohis ... may the Almighty save our India ... Jai Hind ...

Priyanka
 - 
Saturday, 3 Dec 2016

This genius will surely get job offer from top IT companies.

Mahesh
 - 
Saturday, 3 Dec 2016

Brilliant...well done Joseph...that's true IT talent

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News Network
December 15,2025

Mangaluru police have arrested a 27-year-old NRI on his return from Saudi Arabia in connection with an Instagram post allegedly containing derogatory and provocative remarks about the Hindu religion, officials said on Monday.

The accused, Abdul Khader Nehad, a resident of Ulaibettu in Mangaluru, was working in Saudi Arabia when the post was uploaded, police said.

A suo motu case was registered at the Bajpe police station on October 11 after an allegedly offensive post circulated from the Instagram account ‘team_sdpi_2025’. Police said the content was flagged for being provocative and derogatory in nature.

During the investigation, technical analysis traced the Instagram post to Nehad, who was residing abroad at the time, a senior police officer said. Based on these findings, a Look Out Circular (LOC) was issued against him.

On December 14, Nehad arrived from Saudi Arabia at Calicut International Airport in Kerala, where he was taken into custody on arrival. Police said further investigation is underway.

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News Network
December 15,2025

Udupi, Dec 15: What was meant to be a post-pilgrimage gathering turned tragic in Padukere village of Brahmavar taluk, Udupi district, late Sunday night, when a clash among youths escalated into a fatal assault, leaving one man dead.

The victim has been identified as 30-year-old Santosh Mogaveera, a resident of Padukere.

According to preliminary information, the incident took place during a late-night drinking party involving a group of local youths who had recently returned after completing their pilgrimage to the Sabarimala shrine. An argument reportedly broke out among the group and soon escalated into a violent confrontation.

During the ensuing brawl, Santosh Mogaveera was allegedly assaulted and collapsed at the spot after sustaining serious injuries. He was rushed by local residents to a private hospital in Brahmavar, where doctors declared him dead.

On receiving information, senior police officials, including Brahmavar Circle Inspector Gopikrishna, Kota Police Sub-Inspector Praveen Kumar T, Station ASI Manthesh Jabagoudar, and head constables Pradeep and Ashok, visited the spot and conducted an inspection.

Police have taken four youths into custody in connection with the incident. A case has been registered at the Kota police station, and further investigation is underway to ascertain the exact sequence of events leading to the death.

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News Network
December 15,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 15: Air India Express has announced that it will resume direct flight services between Mangaluru and Muscat from March 2026, restoring an important international air link for passengers from the coastal region.

Airport authorities said the service will operate twice a week—on Sundays and Tuesdays—from March 1. The initial flights are scheduled on March 3, 8 and 10, followed by March 15 and 17, with the same operating pattern to continue thereafter. The flight duration is approximately three hours and 25 minutes.

The Mangaluru–Muscat route was earlier operated under the 2025 summer schedule, with services beginning on July 14. At that time, Air India Express had operated four flights a week before suspending the service.

Officials said the summer schedule will come into effect from March 29, after which changes in flight timings and departure schedules from Mangaluru are expected. Passengers have been advised to check the latest schedules while planning their travel.

The resumption of direct flights to Muscat is expected to significantly benefit expatriates, business travellers and others, further strengthening Mangaluru’s air connectivity with the Gulf region.

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