Could my Apple Watch series 9 be hacked?

I’ve never had this happen, and it’s made me quite uneasy. Tonight, while wearing my Apple Watch, I felt a bunch of haptic feedback. When I looked at the watch face, it was on the passcode screen and numbers were being typed very quickly, without touching the screen. Almost like someone was trying to hack the watch. I kept trying to turn it off, but couldn’t get to the screen to power off as it was attempting passcodes and ended up calling my husband. Eventually I was able to get to the screen to power off, but it was extremely difficult and ended up sending out an SOS in the meantime. I got the watch to power off, and ended up resetting it and restoring from a backup.


I’ve had Apple Watches before and this has never happened.


[Edited by Moderator]

Posted on Feb 1, 2024 4:22 PM

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Question marked as ⚠️ Top-ranking reply

Posted on Mar 14, 2024 2:17 PM

I experienced the same issue on my apple watch series 9 on 3/14/2024, thought it was hacked by someone. I really hope someone could offer some explanations.

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Feb 16, 2024 1:13 AM in response to Bri426

There was a problem with the latest update that affected some people and the watch seems to randomly enter passcodes

Reboot the watch


Anyone who has a locked watch as a result: should Put Apple Watch on its charger.


Press and hold the side button until you see the screen with the power button in the upper-right corner, then let go of the side button. If your Apple Watch has an earlier version of watchOS, you see the Power Off slider instead of the power button.


Press and hold the Digital Crown until you see the red Reset button.


Tap Reset, then tap Reset again to confirm.


After Apple Watch unpairs completely, you can pair again. Remember that you'll need the Apple ID and password that were used to set up the watch.

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Feb 1, 2024 5:09 PM in response to Bri426

Hacked, no. Either this was a momentary glitch in the software which forced restart are designed to help clear up, or it was experiencing false/ghost touch issues.


Did you do a forced restart? Hold down the side button and the Digital Crown at the same time until the Apple logo appears.

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Feb 6, 2024 9:30 PM in response to Bri426

The same thing happened to me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6dazJk9AtU


Date of Incident: February 6, 2024, at 18:36 CST


Device: Apple Watch Series 9


Issue Description:


I am writing to report a significant security concern that recently occurred with my Apple Watch Series 9. I experienced a disturbing incident where my device appeared to be remotely controlled by an unauthorized external party. This unauthorized access and control persisted until the device was manually powered down. The incident has raised serious concerns regarding the security and privacy of my personal data stored on or accessible through the device.

 


Evidence and Documentation:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6dazJk9AtU


I possess a recording of the incident, which unequivocally demonstrates the manipulation of my device by an external entity. This documentation should provide valuable insights into the nature of the breach, potentially aiding in identifying the method of unauthorized access.

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Mar 15, 2024 7:10 PM in response to Bri426

Something is definitely up! I swore I was being hacked. My Ultra 2 is connected to my home security system. The alarm set, front door unlocked and garage door randomly opened. I was understandably freaked out. I logged into the security system and reset everything there. Shortly after, I supposedly “loved” a message in a group chat and my watch made a random call to the US Post Office. Then the random attempts at passcodes began. Needless to say, when I was finally able to shut my watch off, I reset it, along with all of my Apple passwords and codes. It would be nice of Apple to respond to what appears to be a widespread issue.

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Apr 1, 2024 9:25 AM in response to Cra-1980

Total overreaction:


watchOS 10.4 includes new features, improvements and bug fixes, including:

  • Tap to Show Full Notification setting now allows you to double-tap to expand the notification
  • Using Apple Pay with Confirm with AssistiveTouch will require a passcode for additional security and will not support double-clicking the side button
  • Resolves an issue that causes some users to experience false touches on the display
  • Fixes an issue that prevents contacts from syncing to Apple Watch for some users

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website: Apple security releases - Apple Support


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Feb 7, 2024 3:29 PM in response to azakmaraces12

That does not “unequivocally demonstrate manipulation by an external source.” However, this might be useful information for the developers so they can finish creating and releasing an update to fix whatever software issue that caused this. Send this to Product Feedback - Apple


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Feb 17, 2024 2:01 PM in response to konidair

There was a problem with the latest update that affected some people and the watch seems to randomly enter passcodes

Reboot the watch


Anyone who has a locked watch as a result: should Put Apple Watch on its charger.


Press and hold the side button until you see the screen with the power button in the upper-right corner, then let go of the side button. If your Apple Watch has an earlier version of watchOS, you see the Power Off slider instead of the power button.


Press and hold the Digital Crown until you see the red Reset button.


Tap Reset, then tap Reset again to confirm.


After Apple Watch unpairs completely, you can pair again. Remember that you'll need the Apple ID and password that were used to set up the watch.

Reply

Mar 30, 2024 8:19 PM in response to Bri426

This happened to me about a half hour ago. I also immediately tried to rip the watch off my arm and shut it off, since I thought my WiFi was hacked. I did read the whole thread, so I will be able to sleep tonight, but the WiFi is staying off til tomorrow. Good-Night.

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Apr 24, 2024 7:20 AM in response to ZinNan

Anyone who has a locked watch as a result of not updating the OS should Put Apple Watch on its charger.


Press and hold the side button until you see the screen with the power button in the upper-right corner, then let go of the side button. If your Apple Watch has an earlier version of watchOS, you see the Power Off slider instead of the power button.


Press and hold the Digital Crown until you see the red Reset button.


Tap Reset, then tap Reset again to confirm.


After Apple Watch unpairs completely, you can pair again. Remember that you'll need the Apple ID and password that were used to set up the watch.

Reply

Mar 30, 2024 10:26 AM in response to shoeluvr13

I just searched for this thread, after i turned my watch off. It was moving, and while looking at the screen, i saw the watch move into the weather app, out of it, into Things (gtd type app) and going through my list of things to do and logging them as completed, then switch to mail app (when i forced reset of it .. because using the menues to turn it off, where being manipulated/closed so i couldnt get to it). I could see how the buttons appeared to be pressed, without me touching the watch. Ive used apple watch since the first version and have the latest ultra at the moment.

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Feb 15, 2024 9:03 PM in response to Bri426

Today, my Ultra 2 goofed out as well. it was having random digitizer activity without being touched. my arm was a bit sweaty, andi had a cracked screen protector, so i thought it was moisture under it, so i took it off wiped it, but nothing there, so it kept trying to open apps and it actually sent a random photo to a friend. A Photo that was not even on my phone or watch.

it was sent in Messages... neon purple lips!

see below

then, I took it off and it went into what looked like brute force passcode cracking.. I had to get on chat with my carrier and was advised to reset it. i could not even power it down, see video clip. too much touch activity from nowhere.

I would say there is a glitch, But i can't explain the sent photo. not when its not on my phone and i have never seen it before. and it was a photo, not a sticker or emoji etc..

I could not get it to power down using the watch buttons, my timeout eventually reached an 1 hr before the unpair and restore from last backup.

video clip:


https://youtube.com/shorts/3YDSU2oxeiI?si=GpCxQ_gAI0o-faxs


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Could my Apple Watch series 9 be hacked?

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