Comment Re: Great idea (Score 1) 101
Anybody with the device can flash the device with a new firmware remotely, yes centimeters but still a distance, without the knowledge nor consent nor password of the device owner.
We don't know the details of the implementation. In particular, it may only work on unactivated/unregistered phones. (That would be a reasonable protection, anyways.)
Also, I doubt the device itself is the source of the new firmware -- that probably comes from the Apple servers on the Internet, and of course they'd have to be cryptographically signed as they always are. (That said, how do the devices get access? Connect to a specified (or default) WiFi network?)
Either way, assuming that Apple makes it so the forced upgrade only happens when the phone isn't activated yet, the biggest exploit I see here is that an attacker could cause a phone that was turned off to burn through its battery faster by repeatedly turning it on. (And each time the phone realizes that it's already been activated and so this is not supposed to work and turns itself off again.)