iOS 10.3, released earlier this week, fixes a major vulnerability that could cause iPhones to repeatedly dial 911, reports The Wall Street Journal. In the United States, 911 is an emergency telephone number that summons police, fire, and EMS services.
The 911 security flaw surfaced in October after an 18-year-old iOS developer in Arizona discovered and published code that would cause an iPhone to dial 911 over and over again. The teenager was arrested after the 911 system in Surprise, Arizona was overwhelmed with more than 100 hang-up calls in just minutes.
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Because the code was published online, thousands of accidental 911 calls were placed across the United States, demonstrating an effective cyberattack method that could severely disrupt emergency services.
The code exploited an iPhone feature that allows users to click on a phone number in a text message or on a webpage and immediately dial that number. With the iOS 10.3 update, iPhones always require secondary confirmation before automatically calling a number using that method.
Apple says the update supersedes that capability and now requires users to always press a second confirmation before initiating a call.
Apple says it initially worked with app developers to fix the vulnerability, and this update will now prevent it from happening even on apps that hadn't already fixed the issue.
iOS 10.3, which introduces features like Find My AirPods and a new Apple Filesystem, also includes dozens of major security fixes. Another major iOS 10.3 bug fix, which could result in endless Safari pop-ups that "locked" the Safari app, was outlined earlier this week.
Top Rated Comments
Well, if you have both an iPhone and a Galaxy Note 7, the iPhone can call the police for you when the Note explodes.
The worst part? Even if they fix this in Android,
1. Attackers can still get away with using their own devices, and any kind of fix for this on the LTE network would require phones to be updated so they can make legit 911 calls...
2. Nobody updates their Android phones.
[doublepost=1490914369][/doublepost]The article should really say that this bug has nothing to do with 911 and is just an exploit to force the iPhone to call any number, regardless of your service provider.
Yes, security updates and stability patches are for mugs - be scared and cautious and stay out of date, that's the spirit, and I am sure Steve Gibson of GRC.com will advise you of the same.
I won't add the redundant "sarcasm" tag, I think you got the point.
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"To show the seriousness" he aimed at 911. Basically, "let me hurt innocent people so you understand this could seriously hurt innocent people".
Thinking about the connection between actions and consequence is what jail is for, after all...