For this attack, all a hacker would need is a small hacking device called Flipper Zero which costs $169. It is capable of interacting with the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol which enables wireless data transfers between devices.
The BLE protocol uses advertising packets to help devices make their presence known and can be picked up by any device that has Bluetooth enabled without pairing. Since Apple’s ecosystem consists of numerous interconnected gadgets, it relies heavily on BLE.
Flipper Zero can mimic the BLE advertising packets of legitimate devices and create phantom devices. In such a scenario, an iPhone would get the impression that there are numerous devices around.
The hacking tool can flood an iPhone with a barrage of pop-ups, asking them to connect to nearby devices such as an AirTag or AirPods. It can become a denial-of-service attack and the constant disruptions can make an iPhone almost unusable.
The exploit only seems to work when Bluetooth is on or switched off only in the Control Center. The attack doesn’t seem to work when Bluetooth is disabled from the Settings. That said, Anthony says that an iPhone is susceptible even when it’s in airplane mode and has advised Apple to take measures to protect its users from such attacks.
Anthony says that it’s possible to carry out an attack that would work over thousands of feet using an amplified board for increasing the range of Bluetooth packet transmission.
Denial of responsibility! TechCodex is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
Alex Smith is a writer and editor with over 10 years of experience. He has written extensively on a variety of topics, including technology, business, and personal finance. His work has been published in a number of magazines and newspapers, and he is also the author of two books. Alex is passionate about helping people learn and grow, and he believes that writing is a powerful tool for communication and understanding.