Tethered Boot from a security point of view. Is it secure?

[psiphreak]

I recently jailbroke my iPhone/iPod to iOS5 and encountered for the first time a tethered jailbreak. After learning I needed to plug it in to a computer and use additional software to boot up I wasnt too happy. However after some thoughts I realized if I were to shut my phone off, it would essentially be semi-secure. To the point where if someone else had my phone, they wouldnt be able to use it unless knowing the situation.

So I was wondering if its possible to extract information from a tethered jailbroken iPhone if they cannot get past the Apple Logo. Without using a third party boot utility.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[f4780y]

No it won't be possible to extract any data from a tethered iPhone which has hung at the Apple Logo because of it's tethered state without connecting it to a PC and using utilities.

BUT, I would not say, from a security perspective, that relying on that is a good tactic to secure your phone. Anyone who is intent on getting information off your phone WILL know what to do and what tools to use. And also, this would rely on you being able to turn OFF your phone after you had finished using to "protect it" when stolen, on the understanding you couldn't use it again until you got to a PC... I just don't see how that works in a real world scenario. Surely you are likely to lose it when it is turned on, not off...?

Set a good passcode and don't leave your phone unattended! But don't even think of being tethered as an additional level of security. That's my advice