Apple has finally decided to take some measure about the whole unlocking frenzy. Yesterday the Cupertino company has issued a new security patch for its iPhone, which fixes no less then 10 vulnerabilities including 7 within the MobileSafari browser. The other three updates solved a Bluetooth flaw and two problems with the security of the mail program used by iPhone.

The update is available only through iTunes and will not be distributed through the company’s website.

But shortly after the update was available the users who had unlocked their iPhones reported that their precious devices are again locked in AT&T network.

For example, MacWorld said that two iPhones in their office that had the SIM hacks applied to them were disabled after installing iPhone Update 1.1.1.

When the phones were restarted as requested after completing the update, the iPhone displayed a message saying that “Insert an unlocked and valid SIM to activate iPhone.”

According to security researcher Tom Ferris said that the update has even managed to disable a phone that had been unlocked using the open-source anySIM software in order to work on T-Mobile USA’s wireless network.

“It kept saying ‘unsupported SIM card,’ even with the AT&T SIM card in it,” Ferris reported. “You can turn the phone off or on, but we just can’t figure out how to get past this ‘SIM card not supported,’” he said.

Also the users reported that the 1.1.1 update also disables third-party applications installed on the iPhone using the popular Installer.app hack.

The tech site Gizmodo has summarized in a list all the changes made by the 1.1.1 update to the unlocked iPhones.

“The update will work ok in iPhones with no modification.

The update will work ok in iPhones with Installer.app (although it gets wiped out; the apps seem to remain in the iPhone, but they won't appear in your screen).

The update will work ok in unlocked iPhones, but it will return your iPhone to the activation screen. From there, no activation is possible. The iPhone doesn't get bricked but —as expected— so if you want to keep using it, don't update your iPhone.

This has been confirmed with both anySIM and iPhone Sim Free.

"Third-party applications won't work after the update" (confirmed by Dev Team.)

"Firmware 1.1.1. relocks iPhone properly" (confirmed by Dev Team.)” the site noted.

But, according to BBC News, it seems that the update affects also the unaltered iPhones. Some owners are reporting on technology blogs and Apple's own forums that the update is deleting contacts information, as well as photos and music, on iPhones that have not been modified in any way, BBC noted in an article.

Meanwhile there are also reports about people who updated their unlocked iPhones without any problems.

Three months after the launch of iPhone a lot of unlocking solutions have appeared. The first iPhone unlock method emerged in August when a New Jersey teen George Hotz in collaboration with three online colleagues reported how to unlock the iPhone through an array of procedures detailed on his blog. The operation was fairly long, it involved some technical knowledge and wasn’t not reachable for a beginner.

Another method was unveiled by iPhoneSIMfree and earlier this month the group begin to sell its hack through a network of resellers for prices from $50 to $99. But shortly after iPhoneSIMfree has started the sales the iPhone Dev Team posted a free hack, similar to the one released by iPhoneSimFree on its download servers.

Also Belfast-based UniquePhones claimed it had cracked the code which locked iPhone into AT&T's network.

Earlier this month Baltic News Service reported that a Lithuanian website is offering to unlock the iPhone for use with local mobile service providers. The website, called iphone.projectas.in, claimed to have unlocked two iPhones in Lithuania and it features a video clip without sound showing the iPhones operating on Lithuanian mobile networks, including Omnitel, Bite Lietuva and TELE2.

During his travel in Europe to launch iPhone Steve Jobs was asked about his opinion on the matter and he said Apple will try to stay ahead of hackers.

"It's a cat-and-mouse game," said Jobs. "We try to stay ahead. People will try to break in, and it's our job to stop them breaking in."

In fact before releasing the update Apple posted on its website a warning for those who unlocked their iPhones.

“Apple has discovered that many of the unauthorized iPhone unlocking programs available on the Internet cause irreparable damage to the iPhone’s software, which will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed,” the company said.

Update: Beside locking the unlocked iPhones back to AT&T, Apple’s update offers several important improvements such as: iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, louder speakerphone and receiver volume, Home Button double-click shortcut to phone favorites or music controls, space bar double-tap shortcut to intelligently insert period and space, mail attachments are viewable in portrait and landscape, stocks and cities in Stocks and Weather can be re-ordered, Apple Bluetooth Headset battery status in the Status Bar, support for TV Out, preference to turn off EDGE/GPRS when roaming internationally, new Passcode lock time intervals and adjustable alert volume.