Researcher says they were behind iPhone pop-ups at Def Con

Summary

At the hacking conference Def Con, a number of attendees reported seeing mysterious and persistent pop-ups prompting them to use their Apple ID or share a password with an Apple TV. A security researcher later confessed that it was them who was responsible for these activities, and their goals were to remind people to turn off Bluetooth in the Settings app and not just the Control Center and to have a laugh. The researcher denied that any data was collected during the experiment, but opinions on its merits varied. Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

Q&As

AI Comments

👍 It's great to see researchers taking the initiative to conduct their own research projects and experiments to further our knowledge and understanding of technology.

👎 It's concerning that these mysterious pop-ups could have been used for malicious purposes, and it's worrying that they were distributed without any warning or consent from participants.

AI Discussion

Me: It's about a security researcher who claims they were behind some mysterious and persistent pop-ups at the Def Con hacking conference. Apparently the pop-ups were prompting people to use their Apple ID to connect to an Apple TV or to share a password with an Apple TV nearby.

Friend: Wow, that's really strange. What do you think the implications are of this experiment?

Me: Well, it's unclear if the researcher was actually collecting any data or if they could have done something more malicious with the pop-ups. It also raises the question of whether this kind of activity is ethical and should be allowed at conferences. It could also be a reminder to people to be more careful when using their iPhones and to make sure they're using features like Lockdown Mode to increase their security.

Action items

• Turn off Bluetooth via the Settings app, not from the Control Center, to stop the pop-ups.
• Enable Lockdown Mode on your iPhone to reduce the risk of getting hacked.
• Contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai or TechCrunch via SecureDrop if you have information about the alerts and how this iPhone feature works and whether it can be abused for a malicious attack.

Technical terms

Def Con

A hacking conference held annually in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Apple ID

A unique identifier used to access Apple services such as the App Store, iCloud, and Apple Music.

Apple TV

A digital media player developed by Apple Inc.

Mastodon

An open source, decentralized social networking platform.

Bluetooth

A wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances.

Control Center

A feature on iOS devices that allows users to quickly access settings and other features.

Advertisement Packets

Small pieces of data sent out by a device to advertise its presence to other devices.

Lockdown Mode

A special iPhone feature that limits some functionalities with the goal of reducing the risk of getting hacked.

NameDrop

An upcoming iOS 17 feature that will allow iPhone owners to share their contact with someone else with an iPhone or Apple Watch by simply bringing the phones close to each other.

SecureDrop

An open-source whistleblower submission system that media organizations can use to securely accept documents from anonymous sources.

Similar articles

0.8428313 ‘Don’t put this off’: Apple issues urgent ‘zero-day alert’ for millions of users

0.8316314 Can you break your smartphone addiction?

0.81966496 How to log off

0.8111334 Apple releases its first rapid-fire security updates for iPhone, iPad and Mac

0.8086764 The best AI features Apple announced at WWDC 2023