Flashing the firmware or restoring factory settings can clean up a phone. Not necessarily an old iPhone.
OneKey’s Wang Yi warns that BootROM vulnerabilities in iPhone 4S through iPhone 11 models (such as checkm8 and usbliter8) are burned into the chip, letting code run before iOS starts. System updates can’t fix them, and airplane mode won’t stop them. The attacker only needs brief physical access to your phone.
Using an old iPhone from your drawer as a cold wallet is like putting your private keys in a safe whose lock can never be repaired. Hotel front desks, border inspections, repairs—every time it leaves your hands, someone can physically access it.
Keep large amounts in a dedicated hardware wallet. For a phone wallet, switch to an iPhone 12 or later, set a long screen-lock passcode, and generate a new set of recovery words on a trusted device.
The old iPhones in my drawer now only store photos. I still wouldn’t let anyone see those photos, but at least they’re not worth anything.
$BNB $KOGE
OneKey’s Wang Yi warns that BootROM vulnerabilities in iPhone 4S through iPhone 11 models (such as checkm8 and usbliter8) are burned into the chip, letting code run before iOS starts. System updates can’t fix them, and airplane mode won’t stop them. The attacker only needs brief physical access to your phone.
Using an old iPhone from your drawer as a cold wallet is like putting your private keys in a safe whose lock can never be repaired. Hotel front desks, border inspections, repairs—every time it leaves your hands, someone can physically access it.
Keep large amounts in a dedicated hardware wallet. For a phone wallet, switch to an iPhone 12 or later, set a long screen-lock passcode, and generate a new set of recovery words on a trusted device.
The old iPhones in my drawer now only store photos. I still wouldn’t let anyone see those photos, but at least they’re not worth anything.
$BNB $KOGE