A group of researchers has discovered a vulnerability in the software of the most modern iPhones that makes them susceptible to a cyberattack while they are turned off, something that cannot be done on other mobiles.
Until now, it was thought that while your smartphone or computer was turned off, cybercriminals could not access or copy them. And to a certain extent this is true, since this applies to almost all phones, however, and to the surprise of many, iPhones are the only ones that can be hacked while they are turned off.
This was discovered by the team of researchers at the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany when investigating the risks of chips with low power mode, which is not the same as the iPhone’s low power mode.
These chips are responsible for the operation of Bluetooth, NFC and ultra-wideband, and what makes them special is that they stay on for up to 24 hours after the phone has been turned off. This comes in handy for things like finding your iPhone if it’s lost, using your phone as a car key, or using your phone as a credit card.
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But at the same time it has been shown that it is also a vulnerability, since hackers could connect to Bluetooth and modify it to introduce malware without you realizing it. As it is a part of Apple’s software, the company cannot change this overnight with an update, so even though we are aware of the risk, we are going to have to live with it for a while.
The silver lining in all of this is that for a cybercriminal to gain access and take control of the phone’s Bluetooth, they have to overcome numerous barriers that require a lot of work and even physical access to the phone, so it’s not an easy vulnerability to exploit. .
The researchers reported their findings to Apple before publishing the work, and while the company has yet to comment, it is expected to be working on a fix. For example, a button that allows the user to turn off Bluetooth when they turn off their phone if that is what they prefer.
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