Thanks chrisj but the problem with this is you need "the" iTunes that was used for the backup BEFORE the phone got locked. As you may or may not know, you can only sync your iPhone, iPod or iPad with a single version of iTunes. If she would still have her laptop (with the version of iTunes she used to sync with), she could recover her phone using this technique. Similarly, if she wouldn't care about her pictures, she could use this procedure with any iTunes to reset the phone to the factory state.

The problem is in the fact she wants her pictures back...

But thanks anyways!

Hi everyone,

Ok first, I think most people here on this forum know me by now and I am not a bad guy. I say this because this story really look bad... 

My accountant now has an iPhone 4S, but she still has her old iPhone 3G (no longer connect to a carrier). So she is only using her iPhone 4S. This old iPhone 3G was sync and backed up to iTunes, which was installed on her laptop. The problem is that last fall, somebody broke into her office and stole many things, including her laptop. And since she hasn't used her old iPhone 3G for a while, she couldn't remember her password. She tried login in many times and ended up locking her old phone...

The thing is she has pictures of her daughter that was taken by this phone and was backed up on her stolen laptop. She asked me if I could retrieve her pictures...

She contacted Apple and they said the only thing they can do is wipe out the phone for her (since they match the serial number to her name), but they cannot unlock it for her (which is a good thing!). So she came to me, knowing what I do for a leaving...

So you see? My story looks like the ones we get once in a while on this forum! I feel a bit lame for that...  But I have known her for many years now and I know she's telling the truth... The phone's id is under her name and there is a picture of her daughter in the logging screen... And no, I didn't steal/found an iPhone I try to steal data from.

I spent something around 6 hours trying to jailbreak this locked iPhone without success... I think she was using iOS 4.1 or something close to this.

So is it possible to recover pictures from a locked iPhone?

Thanks

Good luck!

I'll be look for your posts the Monday after... 

+2

Hi chrisj,

I am a developer and I know quite a few languages now. One trick I used with great success in the past is to work on a small personal project. I would buy a few books on the language and try to code something. For example: a small book review web app, a program to write SQL to different types of databases or if you're a little bit more advanced, a simple client-server game like a basic battleship.

In a nutshell, what I found was that there isn't such thing as a "golden book". Unless it's your very first language (and I know you can code), then threat all books has references and read only what you need.

I may not have answered your question, but setting little projects did wonders for me...

@Hayabusa: It is so obvious, isn't? Sometime I feel they think we are dumb!

@MaXe: Great answer indeed!

Wow, another great one Don!! 

This is obviously a good advice, but hacking all the machines in the lab could be quite time consuming. For me, in my early attempts, I had hack something like 12-18 servers. I still managed to get 60 points in the exam, but still, this didn't make me pass. The thing I later realize is that these servers were not picked up randomly. I was taking the approach "today, I will go after an FTP server" or "today, I am going after a web application". So I wasn't approaching a given host and try to break it, I was looking more at services...

In addition, all the exercises in the videos can be reproduce in the lab. So it's like if we are starting at 10 servers...

But on my last attempt, I felt I was ready because I targeted xxx.yyy.xxx.201, then xxx.yyy.xxx.202, then xxx.yyy.xxx.203, etc... I think I did 9 of the first 10 machines I targeted. At this point, I knew that I would eventually hack any machine I set my mind on. I then started picking up servers with very different configurations: Linux with a web server, FreeBSD with a mail server and things like that. After pwning all the machines I was targeting, I knew I was ready.

So yes, if you can, go after all machines in the lab. But if you don't have the time, you can be wise about it... 

r0ckm4n, you sound like me when I failed my second attempt!

I then waited a full month and tried again (3rd time), only to stop after 8 hours, totally discouraged...

So I decided to put OSCP on a shelve for a while. I did GPEN, CISSP and GWAPT and above all, studied quite a lot. I always had this exam in the back of my mind, always thinking about it.

2 full years after that, I felt ready and passed it with confidence. I really was a different person and it really, really felt good when I finally passed the 70 points mark!!!

So if you are failing now, it's because you had the guts to take on a great challenge. I am sure you have learn quite a lot just going through these attempts. This certification is much harder than most other ones and like you mentioned, that's why it is so good.

Don't dispair! Take a break and come back when you feel you're ready.

If I did it, you can do it too! 

cd1zz is right about everything he said.

Personally, I took the PWB (OSCP) course then self-studied for GPEN. The overlap is obviously huge because they are competitors targeting the same market. While OSCP is way more hands-on, GPEN focuses more on Windows based tools and the whole legal aspect of penetration testing.

So I took the PWB course for the content and I wrote the GPEN exam for the cert who is required on some contracts where I live. So if you're smart about it, you can get the most of the trainings/cert at a lower cost... 

+1 !!!

Why did you do this to me Andrew? Now I have to buy another IT book!!

Great review, I will order it now.

I am indeed from Canada, but I leave near Ottawa, which is about 2500 miles from Calgary... 

So if you are considering moving to Ottawa, I can definitively help you. Otherwise, my contact circle is pretty much limited to this region.

Hey,

You can't just ask us this question and expect someone here to give you such an exploit... Penetration testing/ethical hacking requires lots of knowledge and skills that you can only acquire over time. You can't just go straight to running exploit agains't a web server...

However, if you try hard and post detail questions about something specific, you'll get a lot of help here. But not like this, especially on your first post...

Good luck!

Stay humble, work hard and like all of us, you'll be proud at the end!