A FaceTime bug let callers see and hear people before they answered group calls. Apple disabled the feature and released a patch. Security analyst Robert Siciliano explains the vulnerability and recommends disabling FaceTime until you update.
Chapters
A major iPhone glitch allows you to hear the person you're FaceTiming before they actually pick up the phone. Obviously, this is leading to security concerns. Boston 25 News reporter Alicia Rodriguez spoke with an expert about some quick ways to fix this problem. Alicia?
Well, it's not often that Apple deals with this type of security issue, but the security analyst we spoke with said that although this one was not malicious, it's still serious and deserves attention. It's kind of scary, to be honest.
People could be watching you.
A glitch The glitch on the iPhone allowed users to FaceTime other users and see and hear what they're doing even if they didn't answer the call. The flaw was part of the new group chat feature.
It allows anybody to FaceTime you and they can actually make your phone answer without you actually answering.
Robert Siciliano, security analyst with Hotspot Shield, told Boston 25 News that it's a surprising flaw in the normally secure Apple product.
This is Apple, and they don't have security issues. So this is somewhat unprecedented, which is one of the reasons why it's made such news.
iPhone users we spoke with were surprised by the issue. I never thought that's possible.
On computers I've heard about that too, but never on iPhones.
Obviously it's a little shocking, and it's a little invasive, especially if like you don't say someone's calling you, you don't pick up for a reason, and they can hear what you're saying.
Siciliano says the good news is that this was not a malicious attack on iPhone users.
It's a bug, which means it's a a flaw in the software opposed to a virus.
Apple disabled the group chat function as it works to fix the bug.
So Apple will be rolling out a patch pretty quickly for this one because it's a big deal. So it's really important that as soon as Apple's patch comes in that you update your device.
Now, although Apple has disabled that group chat feature, Siciliano recommends that you disable FaceTime entirely from your iPhone until Apple fixes that bug. Reporting live in Boston, Alicia Rodriguez, Boston 25 News.
