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Denial of Service Prank Crashing iMessage App for Targeted Developers

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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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The Next Web is reporting that a group of iOS developers has been targeted with a series of rapid-fire messages on iMessage, creating a sort of denial-of-service (DoS) attack that crashes the iMessage app.

Grant Paul, one of the targeted iOS developers explains how the attack worked:
"What's happening is a simple flood: Apple doesn't seem to limit how fast messages can be sent, so the attacker is able to send thousands of messages very quickly," Paul says.

The second part of that, he explains, is that if a user sends a 'complex' text message using unicode characters that force a browser to render 'Zalgo' text, or simply uses a message that is enormous in size, them the Messages app will eventually crash as it fails to display it properly. This will effectively 'break' the Messages app on iOS by forcing it to close and stop it from re-opening because it can't render that text."
Click to expand...
iH8sn0w, an iOS jailbreak tool and app developer, showed TNW a proof-of-concept AppleScript that would be able to create the barrage of iMessages. A potential spammer would only need a person's email address and the AppleScript to engage in the attack, especially after Apple unified phone numbers and email addresses in iOS 6. 

imessagedos.png
Currently, there is no way to block particular senders in iMessage, though iH8sn0w said it should be possible for Apple to notice the bursts of messages and block them as repetitive spamming. Victims can also disable iMessage entirely.

It's not clear who initiated the attack, nor why these developers were targeted, though it appears the attacks are merely a prank.

Article Link: Denial of Service Prank Crashing iMessage App for Targeted Developers
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/03/29/denial-of-service-prank-crashing-imessage-app-for-targeted-developers/
S

Speedy2

macrumors 65816
Nov 19, 2008
1,163
254
I find it highly surprising that Apple has not put preemptive measures in place to prevent obvious iMessage spam (e.g. extremely high number of messages in a short time).
 
D

DayOfChaos

macrumors 6502
Nov 13, 2011
303
0
Great, can't wait for character limits, time limits, verifications and heck put in captcha codes as well.
 
T

thaifood

macrumors 6502
Jun 8, 2011
310
96
I've noticed this before when I've been spammed massive text messages from friends just to be silly. It locked up the app entirely and attempted to open that particular message string would freeze the app for a number of time until it defaults back to the message list.

Alternatively, if you attempt to open the offending string and and leave it open, the message will eventually be processed and open to allow deletion. This can take a few hours though depending on the amount of data sent
 
S

SomeDudeAsking

macrumors 65816
Nov 23, 2010
1,250
2
Peace said:
I didn't say there was any hacking. I said it probably came from the hackintosh community.

They are lesser than script kiddies.
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Why does it have to be from the "hackintosh community"? Anyone can carry out this iMessage attack its so simple.
 
Peace

Peace

Cancelled
Apr 1, 2005
19,546
4,556
Space The Only Frontier
SomeDudeAsking said:
Why does it have to be from the "hackintosh community"? Anyone can carry out this iMessage attack its so simple.
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Why ? Because its my opinion. We all have them

;)

"The attacks hit at least a half-dozen iOS developer and hacker community members that we know of now, and appear to have originated with a Twitter account involved in selling UDIDs, provisioning profiles and more that facilitate in the installation of pirated App Store apps which are re-signed and distributed"
 
Last edited:
CGagnon

CGagnon

macrumors regular
Jun 24, 2007
200
0
wow, these guys are 1337 h@x0r. I remember when I discovered this a year ago when iMessages were still new.

n00bs
 
lunaoso

lunaoso

macrumors 65816
Sep 22, 2012
1,332
54
Boston, MA
I guarantee you a story will come out in a day that the national database has been hacked, but everyone will be talking about how their life is ruined because their messages app on their iPhone is destroyed. :p
 
W

Weegee1

macrumors member
Mar 27, 2013
75
0
SomeDudeAsking said:
You do know that many Anonymous members are from the US, right? Not to mention 4chan. Oh, and the US gov conducts attacks on other nations.
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China funds attacks on US companies. It was on the news recently that they take college graduates and put them to hacking work. The US does hacking for military/anti-terrorism reasons. Anonymous... I don't know, they could be anywhere.

Proof of concept: I blocked China and the rest of eastern Asia from my website. Without exaggeration, hacking attempts have decreased by 99%. If I could, I'd make my router block that area on all ports for incoming packets.

----------
CGagnon said:
wow, these guys are 1337 h@x0r. I remember when I discovered this a year ago when iMessages were still new.

n00bs
Click to expand...

ß3$† çømm3ñ† h3®3
Mostly because I like making fun of people who use 1337$p33k.
 
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