Apple Boots Out iPhone Super Hacker Comex

Nicholas Allegra's launch to fame came from his unusual penchant for hunting down cracks in the iPhone's source code. Known as the hacker Comex, he made himself a venerable thorn in Apple's side after repeatedly releasing JailBreakMe, giving iPhone users worldwide the ability to jailbreak their Apple mobile devices. In a semi-surprising move, Apple gave Allegra an internship, which has come to a sudden end a year later.

Comex, from Chappaqua, New York, was a Brown University student on hiatus looking for an internship. He stayed under the radar for quite awhile, until Forbes fished around and discovered his name. To get an idea of hacking skills, former network exploitation analyst for the NSA told Forbes, "I didn't think anyone would be able to do what he's done for years...He's totally blown me away."

Apple offered Allegra an internship, which he accepted because he was on leave from school and bored with jailbreaking. According to a recent tweet he sent out, that internship has ended. The reason? Failure to respond to an offer to extend his employment, as well as other reasons which the hacker declined to discus.

The tweets read:

"So...no point in delaying. As of last week, after about a year, I'm no longer associated with Apple. As for why? Because I forgot to reply to an email."

In a call with Forbes, Allegra stated that though his termination from Apple was for more reasons than failing to reply to the email, "it wasn't a bad ending," and that he enjoyed his time with the company. He wouldn't say more on the subject, however. Mum's the word on what he did for Apple during his stay.

[via Forbes]