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Hacking into someone else's iPhone to read SMS, etc.

Amazing Iceman

Amazing Iceman

macrumors 603
Original poster
Nov 8, 2008
5,304
4,054
Florida, U.S.A.
Hello everyone, I was referred to a person who claims his iPhone has been hacked, and the hacker (his ex-wife) can read his SMS Messages, probably do more than that.

As far as I know, there have been vulnerabilities in the past that made this possible. He assures me that she never got physical access to his iPhone, and that he's absolutely positive she's reading his SMS messages.

I did a Google search and found this article from a year ago:

http://thetechjournal.com/electroni...your-iphones-sms-database-in-20-seconds.xhtml

My question is basically: Is this still possible? If not, what iOS version has implemented the fix?

He's got an iPhone 3G, which I believe can't go beyond 4.2.1. iOS 4 or higher is extremely slow, so I'm assuming he's still on iOS 3.x.

He claims someone told him that unless he changes his phone number, he will still be hacked. My understanding is that a new SIM Card and full iOS Restore without an actual Backup restore should solve the problem. Better yet, I would recommend him to get a newer phone so he could install the latest iOS version.

Any feedback would be appreciated. Right now, I just need to know what steps need to be taken to get rid of the hack and avoid being hacked again.

Thanks!
 
D

dave420

macrumors 65816
Jun 15, 2010
1,426
276
The article was dated March 2010 and the latest 3.x release for the iPhone was in February 2010, so it is possible the phone may be vulnerable if it hasn't been updated. I would assume newer versions have fixed the vulnerability.
I have heard iOS 4.x runs better now on the 3G than it initially did, but I have never used a 3G before.
If there was some hack installed on the phone that was logging the SMS messages (unlikely, but possible) then a restore should fix it. Even a restore from a backup should be fine since only the data and app store apps/music would be restored.
 
benhollberg

benhollberg

macrumors 68020
Mar 8, 2010
2,170
7
If they are using authentic iOS software, as opposed to jailbreak, then I don't exactly know how this would be possible. There have been holes in the system in the past but I don't think any known ones right now. If the ex-wife is just reading the SMS then she probably got a hold of them from the carrier. If it is AT&T then they just ask for the last four digits of the account holders social security number and then will give you a report of all the messages incoming and outgoing.
 
Last edited:
Amazing Iceman

Amazing Iceman

macrumors 603
Original poster
Nov 8, 2008
5,304
4,054
Florida, U.S.A.
benhollberg said:
If they are using authentic iOS software, as opposed to jailbreak, then I don't exactly know how this would be possible. There have been holes in the system in the past but I don't think any known ones right now. If the ex-wife is just reading the SMS then she probably got a hold of them from the carrier. If it is AT&T then they just ask for the last four digits of the account holders social security number and then will give you a report of all the messages incoming and outgoing.
Click to expand...

Hah! What you say makes more sense than going through the trouble of applying a crazy hack.
I didn't know that was possible. Definitely a security hole at AT&T. They should also ask for a password besides the SS number.

Then, could an AT&T employee be helping the ex-wife get the messages?
 
D

dave420

macrumors 65816
Jun 15, 2010
1,426
276
Amazing Iceman said:
Hah! What you say makes more sense than going through the trouble of applying a crazy hack.
I didn't know that was possible. Definitely a security hole at AT&T. They should also ask for a password besides the SS number.

Then, could an AT&T employee be helping the ex-wife get the messages?
Click to expand...

That does seem more likely, but AT&T's publicly accessible logs only show the times and phone numbers, not the actual message contents.
 
benhollberg

benhollberg

macrumors 68020
Mar 8, 2010
2,170
7
dave420 said:
That does seem more likely, but AT&T's publicly accessible logs only show the times and phone numbers, not the actual message contents.
Click to expand...

You can request to see a transcript and they just ask for the last four digit of a social security number of the account holder. It also cost $10 I think.
 
D

dave420

macrumors 65816
Jun 15, 2010
1,426
276
benhollberg said:
You can request to see a transcript and they just ask for the last four digit of a social security number of the account holder. It also cost $10 I think.
Click to expand...

Are you sure? I just did a quick google search and the consensus seems to be that either AT&T doesn't save text messages, or that AT&T would require a court order to view the messages.
 
M

Mav3067

macrumors member
Jan 29, 2009
38
0
Canada
A couple of things. First the 3G does work a lot better on 4.2.1 than it did on the initial releases. Second, some carriers allow automatic forwarding of text messages to an email so if she had access to his online profile for AT&T she may have been able to set this up without him knowing.
 
Amazing Iceman

Amazing Iceman

macrumors 603
Original poster
Nov 8, 2008
5,304
4,054
Florida, U.S.A.
Today he also told me that his ex-wife knows the places he goes to, apparently tracking him using the iPhone's GPS.

One more thing he mentions is that she doesn't actually get the information, but she has someone who provides her with it.
Also, a common friend told him that she will be able to get the information unless he changes his number, something he doesn't want to do.

I still have to meet with this person, and I did recommend that he gets a new iPhone and SIM card, and also bring me the old iphone and his laptop, the one he uses to sync his iphone to, so I could check it for any malware capable of assisting her.

Someone gave me an iPhone 3G, but the display is damaged. I'm thinking I should order a new display and repair it and use it for testing. I figure if I learn how this works I should be able to detect it and fix the problems.
 
L

lovelyladylei

macrumors newbie
Oct 13, 2013
1
0
ongoing hack even after switching to iPhone 5s

Someone else is able to see my texts, hear my voice mails, get access to anything on my phone and they are doing the same to my significant other. I have changed my number, changed phones hence changed SIM cards. I'm at a loss on what to do next. How is this possible and how can this be remedied?
 
darricksailo

darricksailo

macrumors 601
Dec 18, 2012
4,353
113
lovelyladylei said:
Someone else is able to see my texts, hear my voice mails, get access to anything on my phone and they are doing the same to my significant other. I have changed my number, changed phones hence changed SIM cards. I'm at a loss on what to do next. How is this possible and how can this be remedied?
Click to expand...

What iOS version is your iPhone on?

Is your device jailbroken? (Is there cydia on your iPhone?)

Has this "someone" ever gotten physical access to your device?
 
powerstrokin

powerstrokin

macrumors 6502a
May 18, 2013
696
1
lovelyladylei said:
Someone else is able to see my texts, hear my voice mails, get access to anything on my phone and they are doing the same to my significant other. I have changed my number, changed phones hence changed SIM cards. I'm at a loss on what to do next. How is this possible and how can this be remedied?
Click to expand...

It's the NSA and it's for your safety and well being. Nothing to see here, move along.
 
nicroma

nicroma

macrumors 6502a
Jun 20, 2009
515
92
Midwest, USA
Do they both have physical access to the same computer? You can easily pull text messages from an iPhone backup that was done with iTunes.
 
Carlanga

Carlanga

macrumors 604
Nov 5, 2009
7,132
1,409
lovelyladylei said:
Someone else is able to see my texts, hear my voice mails, get access to anything on my phone and they are doing the same to my significant other. I have changed my number, changed phones hence changed SIM cards. I'm at a loss on what to do next. How is this possible and how can this be remedied?
Click to expand...

are you trolling? Can't blame the 5S, it's someone accessing from the carrier network you are running if what you say is true. COuld be from the site, phone access w/ SS, etc etc etc.
 
HankHowdy

HankHowdy

macrumors 68040
Dec 2, 2012
3,501
392
Victorville CA
I'm surprised no one has mentioned this. What if she has your Apple ID and password? If she did, then she would be able to see your iMessages at least.
 
thelatinist

thelatinist

macrumors 603
Aug 15, 2009
5,937
51
Connecticut, USA
I don't think there is real possibility that your friend's iPhone can have been hacked without physical access to the phone. Certainly there are probably government agencies that could do it, but the resources needed are beyond those available to a jealous spouse.
 
powerstrokin

powerstrokin

macrumors 6502a
May 18, 2013
696
1
More likely:

Significant other is using reverse psychology and pretending to know something he/she doesn't. Person getting 'their texts read' is falling for it, and spilling the beans on themselves.

Moral of the story: don't do things you shouldn't be doing.

(And if you're NOT doing something you shouldn't be, then find a new significant other who actually trusts you...because false accusations are just as bad as actually doing something immoral.)
 
darricksailo

darricksailo

macrumors 601
Dec 18, 2012
4,353
113
^(to the few posts above)

He's not saying his significant other is spying on him. He's saying someone else is able to somehow spy on BOTH him and his significant other
 
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