Apple Fixes Bug Allowing Flipper Zero to Lock Up iPhones

[foobarbaz]

Oh good, another tool for criminals.

Do you say the same thing when you see a screwdriver?

 

[bergert]

Oh good, another reason to use cloud services for everything from WiFi to door lock ...
</irony off>

 

[michelb76]

Ironically they still have their mobile app in the apple app store

Why would they remove the app?

 

[michelb76]

Oh good, another tool for criminals.

It's mainly because of this device that Apple fixed this bluetooth exploit. Which they could have found themselves, but the ROI wasn't there earlier.

 

[scorpio vega]

Hmmm, you'd think this would be something you'd expect to hear on Android not apple lol

 

[Boeingfan]

Do you say the same thing when you see a screwdriver?

Hahaha of course!

 

[Boeingfan]

Hmmm, you'd think this would be something you'd expect to hear on Android not apple lol

They’ll be the same thing when the Europeans finish crying with Apple.

 

[Nekomichi]

Hmmm, you'd think this would be something you'd expect to hear on Android not apple lol

The same exploit could also be used to target Android devices, but many people who carried out these attacks set it to target iOS devices only because they wanted to "punish" iOS users for not using Android.

 

[flottenheimer]

Initially read this as "unlock" rather than "Lock up".
Phew!

 

[flottenheimer]

They’ll be the same thing when the Europeans finish crying with Apple.

Europeans crying with Apple? What story did I miss?

 

[Shirasaki]

Oh good, another tool for criminals.

All tools can be used by criminals. I fail to see the fundamental difference.

 

[Shirasaki]

Hmmm, you'd think this would be something you'd expect to hear on Android not apple lol

Maybe Apple should develop proprietary wifi protocol, proprietary Bluetooth replacement protocol, their own nfc, own modem, own port, own capacitor, own resistor, own wire and own board to print circuit on. This should be good for security.

 

[Boeingfan]

All tools can be used by criminals. I fail to see the fundamental difference.

There isn’t one, you reiterated my point.

 

[Boeingfan]

Europeans crying with Apple? What story did I miss?

My point was that the Europeans want Android and iOS to be the same. Same App Store rules, same chargers, same messengers, wah wah. Talk about anti-competitive, the EU council should be taken to task for stifling innovation because everything will soon be the same.

 

[ifxf]

It should not even be illegal do open the doors of cars with this device, because car manufactures neglected security in exchange for convenience for years and many still do.

The worst kinds of electronic car keys are the ones that open the door when you are close to the car without pressing a button. Thieves do no longer have to hack those devices. They just have to amplify the signal of the key to make the car "think" that the key is close by. So the thieves sneak to the house and if the key if close to an outer wall of the house, they can amplify the key signal enough to open the door of the car that parks outside and sometimes even start the car and drive away.

Some things simply should not be wireless. Some houses even use wireless options to open and close the window shutters and those often are not secured by any kind of encryption. So a thieve just had to know the right frequency - which very often is 433 MHz - and then he can open the window shutters of a house.

Wireless light switches are also a dangerous thing. A thieve could turn the lights inside a house on and off multiple times and if there is no reaction, the owners are likely sleeping or not at home at all.

Many wireless cameras still have no encryption at all. Thieves and other curious people are still able to access the video and even audio of many of those cameras. Very convenient. They can look into the homes of other people and even blackmail them with what those cameras recorded.

If an insecure wireless device helped a thieve break into your home, your insurance company likely will not pay a single penny.

Most thieves that have the knowledge or money to use these devices or techniques.

 

[ifxf]

Iphone popups are just a bad UI design. I am always thrilled when they decide I must re-enter my icloud password when I try to use my phone to do something else like use Apple pay and if I dismiss the popup it immediately reappears.

 

[scorpio vega]

My point was that the Europeans want Android and iOS to be the same. Same App Store rules, same chargers, same messengers, wah wah. Talk about anti-competitive, the EU council should be taken to task for stifling innovation because everything will soon be the same.

THat's literally a gross thought to think of. I'd go back to a flip phone before i actively use an android again lol

 

[scorpio vega]

Maybe Apple should develop proprietary wifi protocol, proprietary Bluetooth replacement protocol, their own nfc, own modem, own port, own capacitor, own resistor, own wire and own board to print circuit on. This should be good for security.

you're being melodramatic.

 

[klasma]

You can remote shutter an iPhone camera via Apple Watch as well.

The Flipper Zero is more affordable than an Apple Watch (though still expensive if you only use that one feature).

 

[ginkobiloba]

People need to understand something: This device puts into one device technology that has been used by everyone from criminals to governments (is there a difference? lol), in some instances for decades. This device existing and being so easy to use and combining so many tools together will be better for all of us in the long-run, because manufacturers will patch security holes and update their hardware over time to prevent these exploits. There is a lot of lax security out there that relies on simple radio communication.

By taking it from the hands of the few and putting it into the hands of the many, we all become safer because companies are actually forced to do something about this. This is no different than someone like The Lock Picking Lawyer, who sells lock picking kits through his business Covert Instruments and has a popular YouTube channel where he shows the flaws in various locks. Consumers are empowered to buy things that are more secure in the long run, and penetration testing has always been a thing since the invention of the door and extends to all modern devices.

At the end of the day bad guys are always gonna bad guy. People thought they were secure because they didn't know they weren't until now. We shouldn't penalize the company making these tools, we should penalize the companies selling garbage systems that are so easy to hack into or overload. Someone will always make these tools, whether in their basement, or in some NSA lab or corporate espionage operation

i’m sorry but that’s a complete bullcrap argument. I assumes that everybody on the planet is a twenty-something geek that reads tech blogs everyday and will constantly be checking for the kind of safety boxes in their hotels, the kind of hotel card they‘ve been given etc..to make sure it’s not the kind that can be hacked by this device , which should have never been legal in the first place.
The majority of people have lives, are busy making a living, taking care of the kids, they don’t have time for this geekery.

Zero-risk and totally unhackable tech is unachievable, all you can do is making it very hard for most people to acquire the tech and expertise to do damage. So, yes , what the Flipper does was achievable before, but only if you had the high expertise, the time, the money,and the complex tech to do it. This device “democratizes” all this.
By the time manufacturers panic , and all owners and users of devices/cards/safes etc.. that can be hacked can panic too and start replacing their devices, you have more than ample time to wreck havoc on society.
Safes will be opened, hotel rooms will be burglarized ( and maybe occupants will be murdered), multiple people WILL DIE, because 911 calls for someone dying in the area where the Flipper is shutting down all Android and iPhones won’t get thru. People wearing medical devices connected to bluetooth WILL DIE because their hearing aids has been turned off and they can’t hear that car while crossing the street. People wearing cardiac implant WILL DIE because the implant wasn’t able to communicate thru Bluetooth to the wearer's phone and send an alarm to the doctor in case of malfunctioning or problem with the heart.

It doesn’t have to be premeditated, these people will die simply because they happened to be in the 30 feet perimeter around the hacker using the Flipper. The hacker will probably never even realize what they did.

These types of arguments ( “I’m not responsible for what my tech does”) is more than outdated, even in Silicon Valley ( see all the brouhaha about AI ethics and safety). We are becoming aware that some tech should be made for how people will use it, not for how they’re supposed to use it. Something that allows for abusing other people WILL be abused.

 

[Shirasaki]

Something that allows for abusing other people WILL be abused.

I always blame people for abusing the tech, not the tech themselves.

 

[Boeingfan]

THat's literally a gross thought to think of. I'd go back to a flip phone before i actively use an android again lol

I still have my Nokia 6100 in the drawer which is happily use, but sadly I think it’s only 3G, and that network is being turned off here soon.

 

[ginkobiloba]

People need to understand something: This device puts into one device technology that has been used by everyone from criminals to governments (is there a difference? lol), in some instances for decades. This device existing and being so easy to use and combining so many tools together will be better for all of us in the long-run, because manufacturers will patch security holes and update their hardware over time to prevent these exploits. There is a lot of lax security out there that relies on simple radio communication.

By taking it from the hands of the few and putting it into the hands of the many, we all become safer because companies are actually forced to do something about this. This is no different than someone like The Lock Picking Lawyer, who sells lock picking kits through his business Covert Instruments and has a popular YouTube channel where he shows the flaws in various locks. Consumers are empowered to buy things that are more secure in the long run, and penetration testing has always been a thing since the invention of the door and extends to all modern devices.

At the end of the day bad guys are always gonna bad guy. People thought they were secure because they didn't know they weren't until now. We shouldn't penalize the company making these tools, we should penalize the companies selling garbage systems that are so easy to hack into or overload. Someone will always make these tools, whether in their basement, or in some NSA lab or corporate espionage operation.

i’m sorry but that’s a complete bullcrap argument. I assumes that everybody on the planet is a twenty-something geek that reads tech blogs everyday and will be constantly checking for the kind of safety boxes in their hotels, the kind of hotel card they‘ve been given etc..to make sure it’s not the kind that can be hacked by this device , which should have never been legal in the first place.
The majority of people have lives, are busy making a living, taking care of the kids, they don’t have time for this geekery.

Zero-risk and totally unhackable tech is unachievable, all you can do is making it very hard for most people to acquire the tech and expertise to do damage. So, yes , what the Flipper does was achievable before, but only if you had the high expertise, the time, the money,and the complex tech to do it. This device “democratizes” all this.
By the time manufacturers panic , and all owners and users of devices/cards/safes etc.. that can be hacked can panic too and start replacing their devices, you have more than ample time to wreck havoc on society. Safes will be opened, hotel rooms will be burglarized ( and maybe occupants will be murdered), multiple people WILL DIE, because 911 calls for someone dying in the area where the Flipper is shutting down all Android and iPhones won’t get thru. People wearing medical devices connected to bluetooth WILL die because their hearing aids has been turned off and they can’t hear that car while crossing the street. People wearing cardiac implant WILL die because the implant wasn’t able to communicate thru Bluetooth to the wearer's phone and send an alarm to the doctor in case of malfunctioning or problem with the heart.

It doesn’t have to be premeditated, these people will die simply because they happened to be in the 30 feet perimeter around the hacker using the Flipper. The hacker will probably never even realize what they did.

These types of arguments ( “I’m not responsible for what my tech does”) is more than outdated, even in Silicon Valley ( see all the brouhaha about AI ethics and safety). We are becoming aware that some tech should be made for how people will use it, not for how they’re supposed to use it. Something that allows for abusing other people WILL be abused.

I always blame people for abusing the tech, not the tech themselves.

And there's laws about that. Try openly manufacturing and selling a device to consumers that scrambles the police radio frequencies or the military's, and you'll have a very hard time pulling the "I always blame people for abusing the tech, not the tech themselves." card from a jail cell.

 

[scorpio vega]

I still have my Nokia 6100 in the drawer which is happily use, but sadly I think it’s only 3G, and that network is being turned off here soon.

I think my Lumia 640 XL is still 4g capable lmao. Microsoft shut down WIndows mobile servers so it would be a pretty feature phone at least lol

I honestly just dont get android users sometimes. They preach about choice and openness but only if it somehow benefits them with android lol. All this mandating really is doing is forcing companies and softwares to conform.

Yes, USB c being available for different devices is a great thing. I never denied that. But, I also was not severely harmed nor was my life challenged by having lightning.

If anything, it is more annoying because at least I could charge different devices with different cords at the same time.Now i have 3 devices that use the same cord and i have to choose the order of importance.

 

[jimmy_uk]

I always blame people for abusing the tech, not the tech themselves.

Sure, like people kill people - it's not the guns. But in the UK we don't allow gun ownership because people cannot be trusted and guns would be used for crime and murder. 🤷‍♂️