alekzandr

Q: Ipad Hacked - I watched somebody go into my contacts and browse around

I have a new generation Ipad.. (White 32Gig- 3G)... Was on ATT network at home.. Also had Network On.. I set it down for 1 minute to watch something on TV.. Saw the Ipad keyboard open.. Keys were being pressed. Then it went to my contacts and the hacker was browsing around.. So I had to shut it down right away. Got off the ATT network, shut down my router etc... Actually got my wife to come look as I wanted to make sure I wasn't seeing things...

 

Now I've gone ahead and erased the Ipad. Reset my home network and router. Turned off the broadcast of my SSID for my home netowrk.

 

I then called Cox to make sure all my Router settings were correct. giving me the best protection. While doing this I asked if he had ever heard of an Ipad being compromised. He said no.

 

I went into an Apple store as another one of my Ipads needed to be replaced. While I was there I asked 2 employees and the manager about Ipads being hacked into. They all said they have never heard of it.

 

As far as the apps on my Ipad.. They were all Apple Store apps.. The app that was on when this occurred was Subway Surfer.

 

Any comments would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

iPad (3rd gen) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iOS 6.0.2

Posted on Dec 29, 2012 1:13 PM

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Q: Ipad Hacked - I watched somebody go into my contacts and browse around

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  • by drich811,

    drich811 drich811 Jan 30, 2014 1:11 AM in response to alekzandr
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 30, 2014 1:11 AM in response to alekzandr

    Is there away to mark this post/thread urgent!!!!

    I have the same problem! My ipad has not been jailbroken either. I've noticed it happening on several occassions. It appears as if someone has remotely taken control over my ipad. They're able to open and close apps, click links, open emails. I first thought that it was a bluetooth problem, but I turned off bluetooth and disconected all of my blue tooth devices. I've also seen this occur on other wifi networks/routers besides my own. It's extremely disturbing. I think apple needs to be made aware that this is happening. I first noticed the problem while I was reading and using the Kindle app. But it's funny you should mentioned Subway Surfer because my kids use that app all of the time and I recall the problem occuring with that app opened. What should I do? I need my ipad but I'm affraid to use it now. I ony hope that whoever is controling my ipad has not been able to hack into other sensitive accounts. Common apple, you guys need to look into this.

  • by thomas_r.,

    thomas_r. thomas_r. Jan 30, 2014 4:30 AM in response to drich811
    Level 7 (30,889 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 30, 2014 4:30 AM in response to drich811

    I think apple needs to be made aware that this is happening.

     

    Why?

     

    I'm not sure why what I keep repeating over and over here isn't sinking in. You haven't been hacked, and your problem is certainly not related to Subway Surfer or the Kindle app.

     

    1) Clean your screen

     

    2) Press and hold both the home button and the sleep/wake button for about 10 seconds, until the screen turns off. Ignore the slider that will appear. Release the buttons, then press and hold the sleep/wake button until the Apple logo appears. This is the equivalent of a reboot, and should not affect your data or apps.

     

    3) Restore your iPad to factory condition.

     

    4) If all else fails, get the hardware checked by Apple.

  • by alekzandr,

    alekzandr alekzandr Jan 30, 2014 9:48 AM in response to thomas_r.
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 30, 2014 9:48 AM in response to thomas_r.

    Thomas

     

    Thanks for the response. As you can see I have no angle with my initial post.. I posted it, even forgetting about it until a year or so later I saw emails from the forum responses.. So understand I'm not in here for anything more than learning..

     

    So I ask.. 1) When people day "Dirty Screen".. What does that mean? Do you mean an actual dirty screen?

     

    4) Check my hardware by Apple.. Do you think that hardware could have a bug in it where it looks like the machine is doing things a human would do? Like get out of one app, go into another app.. or jump in your contacts and browse... I ask this because it didn't look like any glitch to me. More of a human or dedicated program.

     

    Thanks

  • by thomas_r.,

    thomas_r. thomas_r. Jan 30, 2014 11:04 AM in response to alekzandr
    Level 7 (30,889 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 30, 2014 11:04 AM in response to alekzandr

    So I ask.. 1) When people day "Dirty Screen".. What does that mean? Do you mean an actual dirty screen?

     

    Yes. A dirty screen can cause all manner of spurious input from the touch screen. I've personally seen it happen myself... not with an iPad, but with another brand of tablet that a little kid was using. The thing was filthy, and after it was wiped off, it worked fine.

     

    4) Check my hardware by Apple.. Do you think that hardware could have a bug in it where it looks like the machine is doing things a human would do?

     

    Absolutely. You'd be surprised how often people ascribe a purpose to completely random actions. I've seen it many times, where a random issue caused by a dirty screen or a bad mouse (in the case of a computer) was blamed on a hacker.

  • by ChrisKraus1,

    ChrisKraus1 ChrisKraus1 Jan 30, 2014 11:17 AM in response to alekzandr
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 30, 2014 11:17 AM in response to alekzandr

    1) Okay, I admit it, My screen is "dirty". You can see everywhere I have poked my finger and the places where I swipe to unlock/power off. I should use one of those alcohol wipes. And this should top my priority list. *wink*

     

    4) I'll raise you one. I would love to be able to look at my own operating system logs. I would at least like peek at a copy of what comes out when they make you go through iOS Diagnostics. But, I did buy an Apple product, and I mostly bought into their model. If there is a debug tool for iOS, made by Apple or otherwise, would someone post it?

  • by thomas_r.,

    thomas_r. thomas_r. Jan 30, 2014 12:01 PM in response to ChrisKraus1
    Level 7 (30,889 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 30, 2014 12:01 PM in response to ChrisKraus1

    Don't use an alcohol wipe on the screen. It's not just a piece of glass. You just need a slightly damp cloth. If you use chemicals, including alcohol, you can damage the oleophobic coating on the screen. See:

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3226

     

    As for debug tools... I would have to ask if you are an iOS developer. If not, I would guess that you don't have the experience or knowledge necessary to interpret any logs you might locate. It is often the case that people suspicious of malware look to logs as a "magic bullet" to identify the malware, and they end up getting themselves in trouble because they don't have the knowledge to understand what they're looking at. It's very easy for the inexperienced to find "evidence" of malware in a log file. Don't go there unless you already have that knowledge... though, of course, if you did, I wouldn't imagine you'd need to ask about a debug tool.

  • by ChrisKraus1,

    ChrisKraus1 ChrisKraus1 Jan 30, 2014 12:13 PM in response to thomas_r.
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 30, 2014 12:13 PM in response to thomas_r.

    Thank you for the cleaning advice - I should just get out the microfiber eyeglass cloth.

     

    Debug Tools: Not a coder, but an IT college student who can handle looking through a log. If anything, I would look for a connection, inbound or outbound, from an app that I know was not running in the background, or some type of non-Apple process that shouldn't have been running around the time of the incident.

  • by Calchick,

    Calchick Calchick Jan 30, 2014 1:46 PM in response to alekzandr
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Jan 30, 2014 1:46 PM in response to alekzandr

    Just read this post, my guess is, ...... the Cable guy who set up the password may be the hacker, since he is the one who set it up???   or possibly anyone else who came to your house and wirelessly connected to your router with your permission and saved the password?  wow unbelievable!

     

    anytime an At&T guy comes out to work on our internet, I immediately change the password for our router and sign in

  • by alekzandr,

    alekzandr alekzandr Jan 30, 2014 8:30 PM in response to Calchick
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 30, 2014 8:30 PM in response to Calchick

    Thomas..

     

    You seem to be pretty sharp on all this.. So can I ask you .. I kind of understand 'Jailbroke' but can you tell me what exactly it does .. Do people do it so they can have a phone that works on other Networks and or they can get apps for free, download non-apple apps etc..

     

    Myself never had to jailbreak something.. I just caled ATT and asked them to unlock a couple past iphones when I upgraded so I could take them abroad and use..

     

    *and I never would do this nor am I asking how it's done.. Just for Apple mod to understand.

     

    Thanks

  • by thomas_r.,

    thomas_r. thomas_r. Jan 31, 2014 4:46 AM in response to alekzandr
    Level 7 (30,889 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 31, 2014 4:46 AM in response to alekzandr

    Jailbreaking allows you to install apps that aren't available in the App Store. It works by removing all the security features of iOS, and as such, it's a very bad idea to do this. The only malware available for iOS only infects jailbroken devices, since they're the ones with no security. Not to mention, jailbreaking voids your warranty!

     

    There are some ways to install apps from outside the App Store without jailbreaking, but those are equally unreliable and dangerous. And both this and jailbreaking require someone with physical access to the device to do the hacking... there's no known way of doing that remotely.

     

    Unlocking a phone so it can be used on a different carrier is another thing entirely. There are hack sites that show you how to do this, but those hacks are unreliable, may brick your phone and are likely to fail after iOS updates. Doing this is a very bad idea. Only the phone's current carrier can unlock it "for real."

  • by Dean Carter,

    Dean Carter Dean Carter Jan 31, 2014 12:23 PM in response to thomas_r.
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jan 31, 2014 12:23 PM in response to thomas_r.

    Thomas,

     

    Earlier in this thread WJBurr posted a link to an interesting article. It describes a method whereby this type of compromise could be performed. It states that the hack could be accomplished through a "rogue" WiFi access point, and that the target iPad could be silently jail broken remotely, without physical access.

    I would post the link here again, but every time I do, my post gets deleted. You'll need to go back to WJBurr's post to find it.

     

    Your statements seem to be at odds with the information in this article. What do you think about its validity? The information was presented by McAfee, who I would consider to be a reliable source.

  • by alekzandr,

    alekzandr alekzandr Jan 31, 2014 12:45 PM in response to Dean Carter
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 31, 2014 12:45 PM in response to Dean Carter

    It's very hard to keep up with this thread if posts get deleted..

     

    I catch an email and come to see a response and nothing is there.

     

    Why are posts deleted unless it's from somebody off the topic?

  • by thomas_r.,

    thomas_r. thomas_r. Jan 31, 2014 12:45 PM in response to Dean Carter
    Level 7 (30,889 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 31, 2014 12:45 PM in response to Dean Carter

    I'm not sure what you're looking at. Looking at WJBurr's profile, he has only posted on this topic. Searching for his username on all the pages of this topic only turns up the following post:

     

    Re: Ipad Hacked - I watched somebody go into my contacts and browse around

     

    That post does not contain any kind of link to - or even reference to - a specific article.

     

    So, I can't comment on that article, because I haven't seen it. However, I will say that when it comes to security issues with Apple devices, I don't have a lot of respect for McAfee. They just don't seem to get it most of the time. I tested McAfee against 188 Mac malware samples earlier this month, and it only detected 99 of them.

  • by thomas_r.,

    thomas_r. thomas_r. Jan 31, 2014 12:49 PM in response to alekzandr
    Level 7 (30,889 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 31, 2014 12:49 PM in response to alekzandr

    Why are posts deleted unless it's from somebody off the topic?

     

    Posts will get deleted for a variety of reasons... rudeness or rants, speculation about future Apple products, discussion of Apple policies, etc. See the Apple Support Communities Terms of Use for information about what is prohibited.

     

    One thing that is most definitely not allowed, but is not specifically mentioned in the terms, is any discussion of jailbreaking (beyond saying something like "don't jailbreak, it's bad!"). Any post that seems to be advocating for or giving instructions for jailbreaking is promptly removed.

     

    If you ever feel like a post has been removed in error, you can appeal that decision in the Using Apple Support Communities forum.

  • by Kilgore-Trout,

    Kilgore-Trout Kilgore-Trout Jan 31, 2014 1:01 PM in response to thomas_r.
    Level 7 (32,519 points)
    iPad
    Jan 31, 2014 1:01 PM in response to thomas_r.

    Thomas,

    Evidently WJBurr's post containing the link was deleted, but the article offered very little in way of evidence of the possibility of this, and at least in my opinion was spurious at best for a number of reasons:

    1. It basically described a discussion given by someone from MCaffee at a conference (strike one - I have no faith in the validity of any statements on iOS security coming from them).
    2. The article (again, not posted by Mcaffee, but a second hand account, but does include a link to MCafee's white paper) is over a year and a half old. But we have heard nothing of this anywhere else?
    3. It is obviously describing a much older version of iOS. If this vulnerability ever existed, it has more than likely long since been patched.

     

    Message was edited by: James Ward4

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