At the heart of AppleB次元官网网址檚 shocking FaceTime bug, which allowed just about anyone to turn an iPhone into a live microphone, stands a 14-year-old boy who stumbled upon the eavesdropping flaw more than a week before Apple took action.
B次元官网网址淭he thing that surprised me the most was that this glitch happened in the first place,B次元官网网址� said Grant Thompson, a high school freshman in Tucson, Arizona. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 only 14 and I found it by accident, instead of the people at Apple that get paid to find glitches.B次元官网网址�
Not only that, but Grant and his mom said they spent a week unsuccessfully trying to get Apple to do something about the bug in its FaceTime group-chatting feature.
B次元官网网址淚t took nine days for us to get a response,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淢y mom contacted them almost every single day through email, calling, faxing.B次元官网网址� Of the fax, he jokes, B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 not even sure what that is. ItB次元官网网址檚 probably older than I am.B次元官网网址�
This eavesdropping scare is over now that Apple has disabled group chats, but the problem could dog the company for much longer. New York state officials have opened a consumer rights investigation. Others are raising questions about how long it took Apple to address the bug.
In a statement Friday, Apple thanked the Thompsons as it announced that it has identified a fix and will release it next week. FaceTime group chatting will resume then.
Grant, a straight-A student who plays basketball, does community volunteering and enjoys the video game B次元官网网址淔ortnite,B次元官网网址� was calling friends to play the game on a Saturday night, Jan. 19, when he discovered the flaw.
B次元官网网址淚f a 14-year-old kid discovered it, I wonder how many other people discovered it,B次元官网网址� said Chris Wysopal, chief technology officer with the security firm Veracode.
Apple hasnB次元官网网址檛 said whether it has records that could answer that question.
FridayB次元官网网址檚 statement said AppleB次元官网网址檚 engineers worked quickly once it got the details needed to reproduce the bug. Although Apple didnB次元官网网址檛 acknowledge a delay, the company said it was B次元官网网址渃ommitted to improving the process by which we receive and escalate these reports, in order to get them to the right people as fast as possible.B次元官网网址�
The company B次元官网网址� at first widely praised for its swift response B次元官网网址� could come under increased scrutiny as regulators seek to learn more about the vulnerability.
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New York Attorney General Letitia James and Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that theyB次元官网网址檙e investigating B次元官网网址淎ppleB次元官网网址檚 failure to warn consumers about the FaceTime bug and slow response to addressing the issue.B次元官网网址�
They said the bug jeopardized the privacy of New York consumers by allowing callers to activate another personB次元官网网址檚 microphone remotely even before the person has accepted or rejected the call. James said her officeB次元官网网址檚 review will include a B次元官网网址渢horough investigation into AppleB次元官网网址檚 response.B次元官网网址�
Last October, Apple introduced the 32-person video conferencing feature for iPhones, iPads and Macs. With the bug, a FaceTime group-chat user calling another Apple device could hear audio B次元官网网址� even if the receiver didnB次元官网网址檛 accept the call. The bug was triggered when callers turn a regular FaceTime call into a group chat, making FaceTime think the receiver had accepted the chat.
In GrantB次元官网网址檚 case, he had just gotten his Xbox ready and called to invite a friend, Nathan, to play B次元官网网址淔ortniteB次元官网网址� with him online.
B次元官网网址淵ou can swipe up and add another person, so I added another friend of mine, Diego, to see if he also wanted to play,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淏ut as soon as I added Diego, it forced Nathan to respond.B次元官网网址�
They were shocked at first, then tried to repeat the bug and it happened every time, he said. His mother, Michele Thompson, said she started trying to reach Apple the next day.
B次元官网网址淭hey could have tested it within two minutes, realized it was true and brought it up the chain at Apple,B次元官网网址� said Thompson, who works as an attorney. B次元官网网址淭here needs to be a better process for the average citizen to report things like this. And a timelier response.B次元官网网址�
She eventually reached someone who advised that she could register as a software developer to submit the bug. Such reports can sometimes lead to B次元官网网址渂ug bountiesB次元官网网址� so that those who discover a flaw can get a financial reward. The family hoped Grant could receive such an award, or at least some credit, for his discovery.
B次元官网网址淓very day he would ask me, B次元官网网址楧id we hear from Apple yet?B次元官网网址� she said.
The family tried reaching Apple through multiple channels. They left comments on Twitter, one of them directed to CEO Tim Cook, and uploaded a video to walk Apple engineers through the problem. But it wasnB次元官网网址檛 until a tech blog reported the flaw earlier this week B次元官网网址� leading many people to experiment with the spying bug themselves B次元官网网址� that Apple took the unusual measure of temporarily shutting down the group-chat feature.
Apple has declined to say when it learned about the problem. The company also wouldnB次元官网网址檛 say if it has logs that could show if anyone took advantage of the bug before it became publicly known this week. The company reached out to the Thompson family on Tuesday offering to give some public credit for their efforts, according to an email Michele Thompson shared with The Associated Press.
B次元官网网址淚t would be cool to just have Apple say thanks to me,B次元官网网址� Grant Thompson said before FridayB次元官网网址檚 announcement from Apple. B次元官网网址淎nd of course, the bug bounty, that would be pretty awesome to get, but as long as we got rid of this pretty groundbreaking bug, and Apple said thank you, that would be pretty cool.B次元官网网址�
Matt OB次元官网网址橞rien, The Associated Press
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