The Complex Litigator

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Slightly off-topic tech tip for iPhone users updating firmware

I have an iPhone.  The more I use it, the more I depend on it as my backup internet access tool.  Based on what I read, I am not alone in the legal profession.  The iPhone has even made some inroads with larger firms, once exchange connectivity was available.  That observation is why I suspect that some attorneys might be interested in this technology tip.

News of a severe vulnerability in SMS messaging was revealed a few weeks ago.  The vulnerability would allow an attacker to take over an iPhone (or, possibly, other types of phones) by sending a specially formed SMS text message to the recipient.  There was no method for preventing this, absent cancelling all SMS services for the phone account until about a day ago, when Apple released firmware version 3.0.1 for the iPhone.

I attempted to download and install the firmware last night.  The 300MB download failed at the completion of the download several times in a row.  After a good number of hours of this, and quite a bit of searching online, I discovered some anectodal information that NOD 32 antivirus was interfering with iPhone updates.  I use another product by the makers of NOD 32, ESET Smart Security (which, on balance, has been my favorite security suite, aside from its not-so-easy-to-use configuration tools).  I turned ESET Smart Security off for the download.  I selected the download only option in iTunes.  I successfully downloaded the firmware without an error at the end.  I then updated my iPhone and everything went smoothly.  Your mileage may vary, but ESET Smart Security, on Windows 7, RC1, was definitely impacting the upgrade in some way.  It might have been possible to give iTunes some sort of fully trusted status in ESET, but I didn't have the patience to look.  If my hours of woe and subsequent research help anybody else, it will have almost been worth it.