Jay Freeman
Freeman in 2018
BornNovember 27, 1981 (1981-11-27) (age 42)
Chicago, Illinois
NationalityAmerican
Other namessaurik
Alma materCollege of Creative Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
Occupation(s)Technologist, Entrepreneur
Employer(s)SaurikIT, LLC
Known forCydia
Websitewww.saurik.com

Jay Ryan Freeman[1] (born November 27, 1981) is an American businessman and software engineer. He is known for creating the Cydia software application and related software for jailbroken iOS—a modified version of Apple's iOS (where OS stands for operating system) that allows for the installation and customization of software outside of the regulation imposed by the App Store system.

Education and early work

Saurik at Defcon 2011

Freeman studied and graduated with a degree in computer science from the College of Creative Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.[2] In 2009, he was a doctoral student in computer science at UCSB.[3]

He built Anakrino, a decompiler for .NET available in 2002.[4] He co-authored a paper published in 2005 about a "Java runtime event specification and monitoring library."[5] He has worked with Brian Fox on multiple freelance projects.[6]

Software

iOS

In February 2008, Freeman released the initial version of Cydia, a software distribution and installation tool for jailbroken iOS devices.[7] In May 2009, he added a proprietary store system to Cydia which allows developers to sell their products.[8] In September 2010, his company (SaurikIT, LLC) announced that it had acquired Rock Your Phone, Inc. (makers of Rock.app). SaurikIT and Rock Your Phone were the two largest providers of third-party apps.[9]

He has published tools for developers to make software, particularly for jailbroken iOS. He made Cydia Substrate, a framework that developers use to help them modify iOS with extensions.[10] He also made Cycript, a tool that developers use to inspect and modify applications on iOS and OS X.[11]

He has developed a plethora of software extensions for jailbroken iOS users to add features to iOS, including Apple File Conduit 2,[12] Cycorder,[13] CyDialer,[14] Cydget,[14] Cyntact,[15] Cyueue,[16] Five Icon Dock, Veency,[17] and WinterBoard.[18] He has also released Cydia Eraser (previously named Cydia Impactor, but was renamed to avoid confusion) for jailbroken iOS, a tool for removing personal data and "unjailbreaking" the device while preserving the iOS version.[19]

He is also a member of the iPhone Dev Team group, which has developed jailbreaks for iOS.[20]

Android

Freeman has also done software development and security research on the Android OS. In 2008, he ported Debian for use on an Android phone.[21] In April 2013, he built an implementation of a root (jailbreak) for Google Glass[22] and published an analysis of the ramifications.[23] In May 2013, he published a version of Cydia Substrate for Android.[24] In July 2013, he published an analysis and implementation of "Master Key" vulnerabilities for Android.[25]

Politics

Freeman at an Isla Vista Community Center outreach event in 2016

Freeman supported incorporation of Isla Vista, California (the community adjoining UCSB).[26] In January 2016, he announced his candidacy for the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors,[27] and in June 2016 he lost in the primary election for that role.[28] He then ran for a four-year seat on the board of directors for the Isla Vista Community Services District and was elected in November 2016.[29]

As of 2019, Freeman is also a Special District member of the Santa Barbara County Local Agency Formation Commission[30] and a member of the Goleta Library Advisory Commission.[31]

References

  1. ^ iSpazio (2011-05-01), Why You Should Jailbreak Your iPhone by Saurik | iSpazio.net, retrieved 2018-10-02
  2. ^ Crook, Evan (May 7, 2013). "UCSB Alumnus Among the First to Hack Google Glass". The Daily Nexus. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  3. ^ Kane, Yukari Iwatani (March 6, 2009). "Breaking Apple's Grip on the iPhone". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  4. ^ Grundgeiger, Dave (January 21, 2002). "Top Five Visual Basic .NET Tips". O'Reilly WindowsDevCenter. O'Reilly Media, Inc. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  5. ^ Karaorman, Murat; Freeman, Jay (January 2005). "jMonitor: Java Runtime Event Specification and Monitoring Library". Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science. 113. Elsevier: 181–200. doi:10.1016/j.entcs.2004.01.027.
  6. ^ Adhikari, Richard (March 20, 2008). "Android, Schmandroid: Linux on the iPhone". Linux Insider. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  7. ^ Erica Sadun (February 28, 2008). "Debian-style installation arrives on iPhone". The Unofficial Apple Weblog. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
  8. ^ Bouman, Amber (March 11, 2009). "Cydia annoys Apple with rogue app store: A new download site makes unauthorized apps available to everyone". InfoWorld. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  9. ^ Steven Sande (September 12, 2010). "Alliance of the jailbreakers: Cydia acquires Rock". The Unofficial Apple Weblog. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  10. ^ Morris, Paul (December 31, 2013). "Cydia Substrate (Formerly Mobile Substrate) For iOS 7 & 64-bit Devices Released In Cydia!". Redmond Pie. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  11. ^ Zdziarski, Jonathan (January 18, 2012). Hacking and Securing iOS Applications. O'Reilly Media, Inc. ISBN 9781449318741. Archived from the original on February 5, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  12. ^ Reid, Ben (October 25, 2014). "AFC2 For iOS 8 / 8.1 Released By Saurik, Gives Full File System Access Over USB". RedmondPie. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  13. ^ Jeremy (September 8, 2008). "The Free iPhone Video Recorder - Cycorder". iMore. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  14. ^ a b Kane, Yukari Iwatani (December 14, 2009). "App Watch: Exploiting the iPhone Lock Screen". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  15. ^ Kazmucha, Allyson (April 11, 2011). "Daily tip: how to add contact pics to your address book with Cyntact [jailbreak]". iMore. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  16. ^ Klosowski, Thorin (March 22, 2013). "Cyueue Adds Quick Song Queuing to the iOS Music App". Lifehacker. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  17. ^ Purdy, Kevin (October 21, 2008). "Veency Offers Remote Control of Your Jailbroken iPhone". Lifehacker. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  18. ^ Elder, Nic (August 14, 2008). "How to Use WinterBoard (SummerBoard Replacement): A Walkthrough". AppAdvice. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  19. ^ Gold, Jon (July 20, 2015). "New un-jailbreaking tool Cydia Eraser (previously named Cydia Impactor, but was renamed to avoid confusion) for iOS has Android roots". Network World. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  20. ^ Jurick, David; Stolarz, Adam; Stolarz, Damien (Apr 2, 2009). iPhone Hacks: Pushing the iPhone and iPod touch Beyond Their Limits. O'Reilly Media, Inc. p. 56. ISBN 9780596555689. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  21. ^ Sadun, Erica (November 10, 2008). "Debian ported to G1". Ars Technica. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  22. ^ Greenberg, Andy (April 26, 2013). "Google Glass Has Already Been Hacked By Jailbreakers". Forbes. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  23. ^ Greenberg, Andy (April 30, 2013). "Developer Warns Of Google Glass Security Risks Following His Jailbreak Exploit". Forbes. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  24. ^ Perez, Sarah (May 14, 2013). "Cydia Substrate Comes To Android (Cydia Store Next?)". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  25. ^ Weintraub, Seth (July 21, 2013). "Cydia developer Saurik exploits and fixes Android's Master Key vulnerability with 'Impactor'". 9to5Google. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  26. ^ Brugger, Kelsey (February 26, 2015). "Isla Vista: Divide and Conquer?: Opinions Split Over Self-Governance Options". The Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  27. ^ "Another Challenger Joins 3rd District Race". www.independent.com. 28 January 2016. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
  28. ^ "Santa Barbara Votes: 2016 Primary Election". Santa Barbara Independent. 2016-06-07. Retrieved 2016-11-10.
  29. ^ "2016 Santa Barbara County Presidential General Election". www.electionwareresults.com. Retrieved 2016-11-09.
  30. ^ "Members & Staff". LAFCO Santa Barbara County. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  31. ^ "Library Advisory Commission Agenda, Monday, November 4, 2019". City of Goleta. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
Categories