No, you're not reading an old story. There really is yet another serious iOS security flaw which allows someone to access information on your supposedly password-protected iPhone.
As the Brazilian fellow in the video above shows, all that you need to do is grab a password-protected iPhone running iOS 4.1, pretend to make an emergency call but dial ### or some other nonsensical number instead, tap the lock button real quick, and tada! You'll have access to the device's contacts, voicemail, call history, voice control and phone features.
We've replicated this trick successfully on several iPhones running iOS 4.1, but we found no luck when we tried it on an iPhone running iOS 4.2 Beta 3. This could mean that Apple is already aware of the flaw and has the fix ready. [Wired]
Update: If you're replicating the trick and wondering how to get your iPhone back to normal, it's simple. All you have to do is press and hold the lock button as if you were powering your phone down and then cancel the action.