PLEASE READ THE DISCLAIMER it is really important in understanding my writing.

DISCLAIMER

This is a work in progress. I plan on adding to this subject when I have the time.

Im posting this as a discussion so I can share my thoughts on the topic and receive feedback and other ideas regarding the subject.

This began as an explanation about the end untethered jailbreaking, but as I was writing it, I noticed something interesting and began to form my theory on the iOS security research and jailbreaking scene.

I do not know the fine details involved in iOS security, but I do know like most people, finding bugs and using them as a means of exploitation is becoming increasingly difficult as new hardware and software is introduced.

Some of you may disagree with me and I completely respect that and I may be missing something that you all may be able to shed some light on and please feel free to let me know!

The bottom half of this piece is a THEORY and is also highly opinionated, which is very important to understand before reading.

PLEASE read until the end before even typing in the comment bar. I would really appreciate it.

I have to put this disclaimer at the beginning because I know some of you would not read it if I put it at the bottom.

Alibaba Pandora did achieve an untethered iOS 11 jailbreak, but it is really clear as to why they didn't release it:

Since Apple has patched the most prominent critical kernel exploits with help from its Bug Bounty program initiated in 2016, and the implementation of KPP, introduced in iOS 9, its far from easy to make an untethered jailbreak now a days. The researchers that have been able to bypass kernel signing and KPP are very unlikely to release a public jailbreak.

iOS security researchers face a lot of problems when developing and releasing a jailbreak, especially an untethered one:

1. There is far more work in developing a public jailbreak because creators will have to make an easy to use GUI, ensure all compatible devices and firmwares are supported, eliminate errors, troubleshoot, and update their work until its flawless , which takes a while considering older jailbreaks have taken innumerable amounts of time to perfect. Researchers also may receive backlash for broken devices, problems such as boot loops, voiding of an idevice's warranty, and possibly even legal issues, although this has not really been a problem yet.

2. Since untethered jailbreaks are very hard to develop and the jailbreaking community expects public tools to be free, researchers now sell their bugs for large sums of money. Apple's Bug Bounty program will pay a pretty penny for kernel exploits these days. Researchers may also sell their exploits for millions on the black market to be used nefariously.

3. Some iOS security researchers believe in the integrity of security and showcase these jailbreaks to help Apple improve their method

Untethered jailbreaks are very unlikely to be released to the public in the near future. At this point they are not worth the time, effort, pressure, cost, and sometimes a researcher's integrity to be released, which I see as completely understandable.

MY THEORY ON THE FUTURE OF iOS SECURITY RESEARCH AND JAILBREAKING

As I said, this is a THEORY and is also very opinionated, which means I make my assumptions based on what I believe to happen based on what I have researched, not necessarily what is or is going to be true. so please do your own research and develop your own theories and opinions on this topic before you make assumptions. Thanks!

This is a WORK IN PROGRESS which means I'm still improving upon it. I am posting this to receive some feedback from you all.

Although jailbreaking is becoming more and more obsolete does not mean it will reach it's demise. I see jailbreaking and exploitation of iOS devices as a cycle. Since technology is improving so rapidly, new methods of security will have to be introduced to "protect" its users. This cycle can be found everywhere, but is very prominent in advancements in computers.

Heres an example: Pre-commecialization of the internet before 1990 data if encrypted at all, used DES (Data Encryption Standard) as a layer of security. But with the introduction of commercialization online, DES became unreliable due to numerous methods of exploitation developed when the general public got it's hands on it. As a result, AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) was introduced shortly after this transition in attempts to fix the problems of DES. AES lasted until the late 90s when it took the same fall as it's predecessor. To replace AES, public key encryption became more prominent during the late 1990s and early 2000s for being more secure. Now a days, a hybrid cryptosystem combined AES and public key cryptography to make transferring of data more secure and efficient. With the introduction on quantum computing, brute-forcing hybrid crypto-systems will most likely become much easier sometime in the future.

Since jailbreaking is fairly new with the first method introduced in 2007, I personally believe that iOS research is traveling in an identical cycle. It may take some time, but jailbreaking/iOS security research isn't dead, but is in a transitional phase of its first cycle. There will be new methods developed to break iOS encryptions, but it may take some time. Once the current iOS security method has reached its threshold, the cycle will restart with new methods of security waiting for security researchers to break again, starting the process all over again in an endless loop.