Apple is currently deep in a crisis. A bug allowed iPhones to turn into listening devices. The bizarre part: A 14-year-old noticed this bug while playing Fortnite a week earlier. He wanted to warn Apple. But he couldn’t get through.
This is how the teenager found the bug: 14-year-old Grant Thompson from Tucson wanted to set up a FaceTime call to talk to his friends before they headed into battle in Fortnite. He invited his buddies to a group call via FaceTime – that’s a video calling app from Apple.
That’s when the boy realized he could already hear his friends even before they joined the call.
The boy immediately recognized the extent of this bug: After all, he could eavesdrop on his friends without their knowledge. He then alerted his mother, Michele, about the bug. The two tried for a week to reach Apple and warn them about the issue.
After several tweets, Facebook posts, calls, and faxes, mother and son exchanged emails with the security team at Apple.
But nothing happened. Only when reports about this bug exploded on Twitter did Apple act and disable “Group FaceTime.”
The bug is that severe: This FaceTime bug is currently causing significant problems. It is being referred to as a “security nightmare for Apple.”
Heise calls “FaceTime” a listening device. With a small trick, it was possible for callers to activate the microphone of the person they were calling from a distance before they answered the call. This allowed FaceTime to be used to eavesdrop on the person called without their knowledge.
This news spread across social media and is apparently now backfiring on Apple. Lawsuits are already being prepared.
If only they had taken the warning from a 14-year-old and his mother seriously a week earlier.
The boy had solid reasons to report the bug to Apple so nicely. He thought as a reward he might get an iPhone X, a MacBook, and a new pair of AirPods. That was his wish list for the “discovery.” It seems none of that came to fruition. (via Engadget)
Even Fortnite itself is threatened by security breaches:
