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mr.steevo

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 21, 2004
1,411
940
I've heard through IT people that there are ways to hack into my children's iPod Touch's camera and mic so that creeps can talk to them and take pictures of them. Is this a razor-blade-in-the-apple parent scare tactic or is there something to this?
 

I7guy

macrumors Nehalem
Nov 30, 2013
34,087
23,743
Gotta be in it to win it
I've heard through IT people that there are ways to hack into my children's iPod Touch's camera and mic so that creeps can talk to them and take pictures of them. Is this a razor-blade-in-the-apple parent scare tactic or is there something to this?
If you are asking if there are known ways to hack iOS, I’m sure there are. The fbi and nsa probably know of a few.

If the question is there a reasonable chance a rogue app could hijack the camera and phone, I guess it depends on the app and if the app has permissions to the camera and mic.

But afaik there are no zero day vulnerabilities to hack iOS in the way you describe.
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
I've heard through IT people that there are ways to hack into my children's iPod Touch's camera and mic so that creeps can talk to them and take pictures of them. Is this a razor-blade-in-the-apple parent scare tactic or is there something to this?
There's some talk about these type of things when it comes to actual computers (running Windows or macOS for example), but not that much when it comes to a mobile OS like iOS that is much more closed off and controlled.
 

Minorite

macrumors 6502a
May 8, 2018
521
123
Poland
From what I know the chance that Facebook will use micro for target ads is much higher... Imo it's a scary story for parents but if you are nervous about it just set a parental control for AppStore.
 

AbSoluTc

Suspended
Sep 21, 2008
5,104
4,000
I've heard through IT people that there are ways to hack into my children's iPod Touch's camera and mic so that creeps can talk to them and take pictures of them. Is this a razor-blade-in-the-apple parent scare tactic or is there something to this?

It's a scare tactic. You have a better chance getting struck by lightning. As a system admin., I can tell you Apple really locks down the devices and you have to knowingly allow an app access to the MIC and Camera. Again, scare tactic.
 
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