iPhone SMS Attack: A Perfect Example Of Apple and AT&T Customer Service FAIL
This is a perfect example of what not to do during a time of confusion: stay silent. After news broke yesterday evening that iPhone users are at risk of having their device taken control of by a hacker, the web, radio, newspapers, TV, and the rest of the mainstream media have picked up on the story. iPhone users that aren’t privy to the details of the situation are scared. Being the go-to tech guy for friends, relatives, and clients, I’ve been receiving questions all day asking for advice. I don’t mind answering questions or helping people out; quite the opposite in fact. But what I do find deplorable is that Apple and AT&T are staying completely mum on the situation: there are no official blog posts, email updates, or – ironically – text messages to iPhone owners regarding the current status of the affairs. And that is poor communication, plain and simple.
Let’s get the basics out of the way: two security researchers – Collin Mulliner and Charlie Miller – have found a serious exploit in the way the iPhone handles SMS messages. If a hacker plays his cards right, he would be able to take complete control of an iPhone by means of sending a text message to the device. Complete control means making phone calls, stealing data, sending text messages without the owner’s consent… you get the idea.
But it gets worse: Apple was notified about the exploit six weeks ago. And in that time, the company has not issued an update to the iPhone OS. By comparison, the Android OS was also vulnerable to a similar attack. Google fixed the problem within a day or two of being notified of the problem. And all that brings us to the present: this evening, the two researchers who found this bug are presenting their exploit at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas. Yet the most interesting part of all this is that neither Apple nor AT&T have made any official statements regarding the situation: Read more »
Posted in ATT, Apple, Business, Customer Service, Featured, Security, iPhone