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Hacker Behind JailbreakMe.com Identified As Brown University Student

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Apr 12, 2001
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Comex, the anonymous hacker behind JailbreakMe.com, a website that enables easy jailbreaking of iOS devices, has been unmasked by Forbes.
Nicholas Allegra lives with his parents in Chappaqua, New York. The tall, shaggy-haired and bespectacled 19-year old has been on leave from Brown University since last winter, looking for an internship...

He calls himself an Apple "fanboy," and describes Android's more open platform as "the enemy." "I guess it's just about the challenge, more than anything else," he says.
Click to expand...
Allegra describes jailbreaking as "like editing an English paper... You just go through and look for errors. I don't know why I seem to be so effective at it."

The Forbes article ends by wondering if Apple's security team needs a new intern. It wouldn't be the first time a jailbreaker ended up at Infinite Loop. Earlier this year MobileNotifier developer Peter Hajas was picked up as an Apple summer intern.

Article Link: Hacker Behind JailbreakMe.com Identified As Brown University Student
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/08/01/hacker-behind-jailbreakme-com-identified-as-brown-university-student/
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Oh my God. I didn't think they even used computers at Hogwarts.
 
Anyone who hacks for a living would be stupid to work for the company that makes the very devices he professionally hacks. This would be a huge blow to the jailbreak community.
 
no doubt he will be hired by Apple ... to continue leaking future jailbreakme 5, 6 and 7 ....
 
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Comex also made some other notable jailbreaks, including especially the Wii after Nintendo closed the original hole (bannerbomb was comex, IIRC). I vaguely remember talking to him briefly once, I think on IRC.

Seems like a talented guy.
 
Give him an Internship? Are you serious - if Apple doesn't give this kid a job then someone else quickly will!
 
ThatDudeF said:
Give him an Internship? Are you serious - if Apple doesn't give this kid a job then someone else quickly will!
Click to expand...

Yeah if i were aapl security team i would offer him about 90k per year plus some aapl stock options - plus make him sign a very tight non disclosure agreement
pretty good for a 19yo kiddo
 
Comex has been featured in a recent Forbes article.

Just in case someone here is interested.

Comex article at Forbes.com

It's cool to have Comex as a local (while school is in session) geek celebrity.

Edit - I just wanted to say this post was moved into this thread. I wouldn't knowingly post information in a thread that's already been said in the original post. :)
 
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norrismantooth said:
Anyone who hacks for a living would be stupid to work for the company that makes the very devices he professionally hacks. This would be a huge blow to the jailbreak community.
Click to expand...

Why would taking any job be stupid, if you enjoy the job and it pays well enough?

Talented guy!
 
norrismantooth said:
Anyone who hacks for a living would be stupid to work for the company that makes the very devices he professionally hacks. This would be a huge blow to the jailbreak community.
Click to expand...
The hacker would not care about the hacking community then. He'll get a job hacking and he'll be sweetly set.
 
the8thark said:
The hacker would not care about the hacking community then. He'll get a job hacking and he'll be sweetly set.
Click to expand...

Exactly my point. We're all effed if he signs with Apple. What are the jail breakers (myself, and others) going to do if this 19 yo kid can't provide jailbreaks anymore?
 
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I don't understand why Forbes tried so hard to dox comex. He would have just as soon stayed anonymous.
 
Chappaqua, NY - The iPhone hacking community was stunned today when it was revealed that the longtime firmware hacker known as "comex" is actually famed Gryffindor wizard Harry Potter.

Potter, who dropped out of Hogwart's School of Witchcraft shortly before entering his senior year, has been attending Brown University under the alias "Nicholas Allegra". His accomplishments include hacking the Nintendo Wii, jailbreaking several iOS versions, and perhaps most notably, defeating the legendary evil wizard Voldemort during a cease-fire at the infamous "Battle of Hogwarts".

Potter's unmasking at Brown isn't a complete surprise. His close friend and confidant Hermione Granger had been spotted around the Brown campus at various times throughout 2009 and 2010. Potter's girlfriend, and likely future wife Ginerva "Ginny" Weasley has not been seen at the school, however that hasn't stopped the student body from arguing whether she is "kinda cute", "smokin' hot", or "a bit of a butterface".

More on this story as it develops...
 
i wonder if he revealed his identity or if he was discovered?
i have not read the interview...
No biggie i think this kid is OK either way. Right on.

//edit: 'has been unmasked by Forbes' oh darn...
 
JayHD said:
Chappaqua, NY - The iPhone hacking community was stunned today when it was revealed that the longtime firmware hacker known as "comex" is actually famed Gryffindor wizard Harry Potter.

Potter, who dropped out of Hogwart's School of Witchcraft shortly before entering his senior year, has been attending Brown University under the alias "Nicholas Allegra". His accomplishments include hacking the Nintendo Wii, jailbreaking several iOS versions, and perhaps most notably, defeating the legendary evil wizard Voldemort during a cease-fire at the infamous "Battle of Hogwarts".

Potter's unmasking at Brown isn't a complete surprise. His close friend and confidant Hermione Granger had been spotted around the Brown campus at various times throughout 2009 and 2010. Potter's girlfriend, and likely future wife Ginerva "Ginny" Weasley has not been seen at the school, however that hasn't stopped the student body from arguing whether she is "kinda cute", "smokin' hot", or "a bit of a butterface".

More on this story as it develops...
Click to expand...

Awesome!
 
JayHD said:
Chappaqua, NY - The iPhone hacking community was stunned today when it was revealed that the longtime firmware hacker known as "comex" is actually famed Gryffindor wizard Harry Potter.

Potter, who dropped out of Hogwart's School of Witchcraft shortly before entering his senior year, has been attending Brown University under the alias "Nicholas Allegra". His accomplishments include hacking the Nintendo Wii, jailbreaking several iOS versions, and perhaps most notably, defeating the legendary evil wizard Voldemort during a cease-fire at the infamous "Battle of Hogwarts".

Potter's unmasking at Brown isn't a complete surprise. His close friend and confidant Hermione Granger had been spotted around the Brown campus at various times throughout 2009 and 2010. Potter's girlfriend, and likely future wife Ginerva "Ginny" Weasley has not been seen at the school, however that hasn't stopped the student body from arguing whether she is "kinda cute", "smokin' hot", or "a bit of a butterface".

More on this story as it develops...
Click to expand...

This gets me thinking...they made a movie about Mark Zuckerberg, maybe they could get Daniel Radcliffe to play this guy in the inevitable movie about jailbreaking. :D
 
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