iPhones protected by a password aren’t actually protected at all, as just by pressing a few keys a miscreant can access all the phone’s functions without needing the password at all.

The trick, reported by MacRumours, is simply a press of the “Emergency Call” key from the passcode entry screen, followed by a double-tap on the home button. That takes the miscreant into favourites, from which they can access the address book, from which they can get into the e-mail client (by tapping a contact’s e-mail address) or the browser (by tapping a URL).

Clearly Apple has missed a trick here, and a fix should be quickly forthcoming, but it bodes badly for a device which is trying to sell itself into the enterprise and is already under fire for lacking important security features.