Can the iPhone5 be hacked remotely by a hacker?

KyleNisbet wrote:

I think that she could download extra security measures. Also, she should maybe add a password onto her phone. All those would hopefully stop the hacker.

There are no extra security measures to download. Yes, a password is advisable.

My daughters iPhone 5C has been hacked through Instagram the instragram account password has been changed and messages are being sent to her friends describing things that could only be had seen through the phones camera. The police are now involved but how do I check if any other apple devices in our family are hacked? Any help appreciated and just to help I am not supper technical.

stephenfromhampshire wrote:

My daughters iPhone 5C has been hacked through Instagram the instragram account password has been changed and messages are being sent to her friends describing things that could only be had seen through the phones camera. The police are now involved but how do I check if any other apple devices in our family are hacked? Any help appreciated and just to help I am not supper technical.

The fact that her Instagram account was hacked has nothing to do with her iPhone. Unless someone had physical access to her phone, and jailbroke it, the iPhone was not hacked. If she has pictures on Instagram, people will be able to look at them and describe what shw took pictures of.

You should work with Instagram on account security. Check out some of the many references on how to create complex passcodes and educate your daughter on how to use them. Teach her not to give her account passwords to anyone. Have her put a password on her phone.

As long as no one has had physical access to your phones, they have not been hacked. If someone untrustworthy has had unsupervised access, restore the phones as new, not from back up.

EXACTLY moienappleuser. You're correct. My experience matches. And, actually, I have an iPhone 6. However, in THIS post, I'm going to describe for you the God's honest truth and my experience, with the sole purpose of all of us figuring this out together, with Apple. OK, here goes:

This was happening off & on for maybe a year or two (?)... in retrospect I think even when I had my 5S. I tried to ignore it as best I could but it got worse and worse. So, for the past 6 months or so, I've had my iPhone 6. The problem continued and got seemingly worse with time (or started wearing on me lol). So I called Apple (a kick-*** company) and they REPLACED my phone. First let me say: I'm a HUGE fan of Apple, and love everything they do and stand for and especially their high standards and history of excellence. In fact, when I write Apple on iphone feedback page (which I do often), they always seems to listen and it always seems to makes a difference. I WOULD share this stuff there too but they have a serious char limit, that this longer message would never make the cut. So here goes a post that's my actual experience. So, I had ALL those same problems that moienappleuser (and probably 100 others here, but I haven't read all the pages yet) have experiences... BUT THEN... after my BRAND NEW, replaced iPhone 6 (same model) arrived, THE EXACT same behavior started again!!! I swear to God. Very frustrating. When I called initially, and spoke with the rep (who was very nice and pretty knowledgeable), he said (upon asking) that he had indeed seen it before several times, and as I tried to describe it, he sort of kept seeming to talk over me pushing the idea that it might be something between the screen and the circuitry / sensors, aka HARDWARE, specifically, what I found other sides refer to as "the digitizer" when I was researching all this). HOWEVER, from what I'm about to describe next, I STRONGLY DISAGREE. The problem is NOT hardware. And I think you'll agree it's SOFTWARE /SPYWARE ..or worse, cyber you-know-what. Read on if you dare...Now, I don't know if it's one of the "haters/spies" (like korea, china, russia or fbi lol), OR if it's just some jealous gf who intentionally planted something on my phone (they should be included in that crap list), but here's MY experiences (similar to moienappleuser) ....only with a twist. Read on!! The BASIC behavior of the (let's call it) this spyware (hey! that's how it acts!! let's be honest and call a spade a spade) is this (my experience at least): 1. I put the phone down (flat or leaning up against something) and it STARTS SWIPING and TAPPING keys and even dialing and going into folders, and AS IF "studying" (spying), and it looks at very sensitive items. It almost taunts you, but I couldn't actually prove it. SO YOU KNOW WHAT? Today I tried many experiments to see what the heck is going on! Actually, for a LONG time, I've felt deep-down that the problem is software, because like moienappleuser stated "junk character and make-sense statements". So...that's what made me start experimenting (in my own stupid way): First, I thought, because of the highly unusual PATTERN of "randomness" (the pattern is that it goes into things and almost like "investigating" or "checking things out"... like simulating human behavior, like too "inquisitive" to be just random and too ANNOYING in its patterns), so I thought definitely NOT hardware! So, figuring SOFTWARE, I started, ONE BY ONE, closing various apps that were open (common ones I use), and all throughout the day (whether it makes sense or not), I'd go into Safari and clear cache and history)---for almost a year now like 20 times a day)...only cuz I don't know better. Of course, MANY times every day I power off my phone and relogin, I logged out of my "less necessary" apps and/or changed passwords and even (me this time) started deleting unnecessary apps. ETC. Anyway, so I kept trying to keep "just the minimum" apps I needed open...but it kept happening, so today, I closed even the last one.... but the problem continued.... and I was stumped! So I was trying to "narrow" down which app might be doing it (I have maybe the typical or around 100 apps in total (just a guess)), and honestly, i couldn't do a "proper" test, where I delete everything and reinstall 1-by-1. I need my apps to survive, for business, etc. OK, NOW CHECK THIS OUT. Today the activity on my phone when I set it down was "crazier" than usual... i mean was so aggressive and out of control, going into apps, dialing, texting etc that EVEN I couldn't IGNORE it. 😟 It was like a jealous girlfriend. You ignored her and she got crazier. So, the more I ignored it, the more "crazy" it got (i can't explain it all, but I'll share just THREE things just today that happened): 1. When it wasn't "getting my attention" (terror, lol), it THEN TURNED ON THE FLASHLIGHT (by swiping up and touching the flashlight to drain my battery VERY fast...you can ALWAYS "see" what's happening until ur phone goes auto lock I guess (?)--haven't tested or wouldn't know how to. 2. I could also see it TRYING to go into apps where you have to enter a 4 digit passcode! It tried OVER & OVER & OVER...until I got LOCKED OUT of the app myself!! (delay time)...before it started again! It wasn't like (yeah, I read a little like we all do) "brute force" meaning it didn't look like it was going sequentially or whatever, but it was "persistent". So, lest you think I'm crazy, here's a 3rd and LAST one I'll share with you cuz I'm out of time:3) during one of it's "mock" or "random" or "junk" characters (true most of the time). READY? Ok, ... WHILE it was keying in RANDOM junk into a random text, I "randomly ADDED" (I inserted the cursor AS it was typing): "i love u" BUT I cleverly added (for my own testing) a HEART EMOJI in place of the word "love", so there were 3 chars: i(heart)u. THEN the spyware/cyberware/whatever continued its "RANDOM" text entries...but I watched closely studying (intently for patterns lol)....I say "lol" because I was shocked when about 15 seconds later (guestimate), it "WROTE BACK" (within the same string of text still and after lots more normal text characters)... a message that included a LOT of emoji hearts (but a different one!)... so whoever (not whatever...and it's NOT hardware!! DUH!!) is doing this is MALICIOUS. I wish I had recorded the screen so I could repeat it for you exactly, but it was something like 10-15 emoji (I think 2 or 3 different emoji hearts all strung together)....like it got "crazy" that it was being "challenged". So, THIS IS REALLY WHAT WE'RE DEALING WITH. I share it here because i've tried everything else (as you can see) AND I want this to HELP and call ATTENTION to Apple to spend some serious resources to fix this issue. As you can see, it's NOT hardware, it's something malicious and it's (seemingly?) LIVE.

THE ONLY WAY to "STOP" it (temporarily) is to hit the power button and go into "sleep" mode or, I guess until it goes into autolock (per whatever time you input in settings for that)..but then OBVIOUSLY you need to use your phone again usually in a few seconds or minutes if you're a typical, modern user, so to have to CONSTANTLY (when this occurs) go INTO sleep mode JUST to protect yourself (your privacy of your phone) is f'ing annoying. Again, the only reason I write all this is not to be mean or hurtful but to HELP users and to help Apple and to add value to Apple (cuz how could someone not share this experience?), since this is a perfect issue for community and for people to come together and TRY to figure out what app or apps is/are causing this.

NOTHING seems to make a difference. I've experimented with seemingly all settings/various combinations eg cellular on/off and roaming on/off and wifi on/off and airplance mode on/off. I thought (?) at one point that the airplane mode helped...but I think that was just for a while. I have to check again. I even changed my wifi password and my router passwords and keys.

So I have to be truthful to myself: Since, remember, I had this problem BEFORE & AFTER my iPhone 6 replacement from Apple, since the phone arrived (presumably) clean, when I restored from iCloud, we obviously have to consider (right?) that it is one of the apps (or a security weakness that's being exploited by some developers, or maybe even by some spyware that's out there on the market, bought by jealous people... and I should add one eery thing in that vein: I noticed the activity was going on for about an hour or two (?), but when my "i'm not jealous type" gf got home, and parted from her phone ....the problem suddenly stopped. I'm not crazy. I just want this majorly important iPhone issue fixed since it's affecting my life very seriously. I haven't even read past a couple pages here, so I'm guessing that I'm going to read a lot of what I just described (but presented in much smaller pieces). Dear Apple, please bring this to the attention of your top people. I know you have a lot on your plate, but actually, nothing comes before this. This issue should be #1 since, no matter how you cut it, there's obviously a security flaw that's being exploited and wreaking major havoc. Thanks and hopefully you'll fix this ASAP cuz it's affecting me every day and affecting my productivity, piece of mind and overall user satisfaction. I like iPhone. I want to stay with iPhone, but I can't stay if this isn't fixed soon. Thanks again.

Do you ever put your phone in your back pocket? What you're describing is a bent iPhone 6 (VERY slightly) that is causing false touch. I know, when you want to see patterns in the input, it's easy to do so. You also won't believe me, and will insist that someone cares enough to hack your device. You need to accept the reality that it's not happening. If you cannot accept this, it may be worth putting the phone down for a few days.

From what I was able to discern from that wall of text, you're describing a bad digitizer, a hardware problem. You may also have a corrupt back up.

The person to whom you're replying also doesn't appear to have posted in this thread in well over a year.

Right. It seems abundantly obvious from all the posts here- whether it's an app that's exploiting the IOS or some sort of direct remote hacking-- that Apple should proactively create a division that acts LIKE a ccleaner plus a BUILT-IN antivirus. THEN BUNDLE IT. I use a firewall, antivirus ccleaner etc for my computer, and I never have problems. But, if you add up the last few years that I've had these "phantom swiping/tapping, browsing", etc issues, and all the phones I've purchased, it's EASILY the same TOTAL cost I paid for a computer. But if you then add the costs in time, headaches hassles etc of dealing with these types of security issues (remember time is money), the cost we pay is actually much greater. Now, think about it, it's a little bit shocking (honestly, very shocking) that one could put out an OS, without including an antivirus. I mean, can you imagine if Microsoft was still putting out Windows without Defender or without Security Essentials? They believe in them so much they include them in their security updates. It's the same thing. I think we would all agree that a PHONE (yes, even yours/mine) IS JUST A SMALL COMPUTER. Just cuz it has YOUR os (IOS) doesn't magically confer papal infallability. Another analogy is that, when users are allowed to download apps or anything of the web thru the phone, it's like having indiscriminate sex with the world WITHOUT using condoms. Russian roulette really. I mean acknowledging your brilliant device and programmers, security updates with your IOS, let's be honest, has obviously missed something. I always keep the latest IOS (after reading what's included etc). But no response really isn't a response to all these virtually identical descriptions and behaviors everyone's citing here. So, I have this proposal: Dear Apple Board of Directors, WHY NOT MAKE THIS PROBLEM AN OPPORTUNITY and a win-win for everyone? Here's how (it's not perfect; it's just an idea): Apple, why don't you include an antivirus OPTION, which (obviously) a massive segment of the market will WANT to PURCHASE. Then (don't worry!) you simply offer this guarantee: "If your iPhone gets hacked, we will not only replace your phone BUT we will reimburse you for the entire amount of the antivirus (eg monthly installments) that you've paid to date." That way, you're a) GAINING market share; b) GAINING consumer confidence; c) KEEPING customers who might otherwise go to the dark side (Samsung lol); and d) ultimately, putting your money where your mouth is; e) People will respect that.

me2on6 wrote:

Right. It seems abundantly obvious from all the posts here- whether it's an app that's exploiting the IOS or some sort of direct remote hacking-- that Apple should proactively create a division that acts LIKE a ccleaner plus a BUILT-IN antivirus. THEN BUNDLE IT.

Why should Apple create something that would only be of value to the people who were already foolish enough to remove the extremely effect protection that Apple has already built into iOS devices.

There are no viruses that can affect an iOS device unless it has been jailbroken.

rocket1410 wrote:

Does apps like FB and Linkedin that allows people to look at other profiles potentially can embed hacking software?

I plan to delete these apps..as a precaution..

Not impossible but highly unlikely. You're moving into tinfoil hat territory.

HERE'S AN IMPORTANT UPDATE I wanted to share with everyone:

I was right about it being SOFTWARE. The problem stopped (for the past 5 days, nothing, and it used to be constant) AS SOON AS I deleted ONE APP (I won't name which one right now) for keyboard. The app was something like phrases keyboard, where you touch the emoji icon on the keyboard and touch it again and it shows you a bunch of phrases or words or strings you pre-entered (lots of apps like that). But, you should know one other thing. For weeks, I was doing careful studies, "controlling variables" (changing only one setting at a time--I literally kept a long excel spreadsheet that was highly organized), eg wifi off, then cell off, then going thru everything in all **** combinations. There were probably 100 things I tried, everything from airplane mode to changing every wifi and network wifi pzw and router passwrds etc. So, there was ONE other thing I had forgotten to do, which I did THE SAME DAY as finding that (above) APP, and that thing I did was to change my iCloud & also iTunes passwords. But, honestly, I think it was the app cuz it was a little more proximate to that change, when all this phantom behaviors stopped. NOW, ALL THAT SAID, even though the phantom behaviors (that everyone in this forum has described) were occcuring to me DAILY and for usualy hours, it's only been maybe five days since the problem stopped suddenly. That doesn't mean it won't start up again, and so I'm just reporting back some POSSIBLY helpful info for Apple and everyone else...in case it helps... Obviously, I'll repost if it starts up again. Hope this helps.

me2on6 wrote:

I was right about it being SOFTWARE. The problem stopped (for the past 5 days, nothing, and it used to be constant) AS SOON AS I deleted ONE APP (I won't name which one right now) for keyboard. ``````

So you had some misbehaving software which you deleted and the problem went away. That doesn't mean anyone hacked anything.

I was reading about these different things and actually tripped across this page: http://www.zyxaw.com/2012/01/silent-sms-beware-your-cell-is-being.html

I'm not sure if it could cause the type of thing you're talking about. This is not really my thing. But I wonder if this silent sms might have had to do with your phone having been circumvented on at least a few occasions. I have no clue. But, at least your post can't be dismissed. Hopefully Apple's on top of all this stuff. It's probably simple stuff to their people. Have a good day.

me2on6 wrote:

Seems you write the same dismissive response to everyone's post on this forum?

Only when the posts contain Chicken Little-type nonsense.

Quoting four year old blog posts about features of the GSM network doesn't prove hacking.

The blog post is nonsense. However, if you have ANY cell phone you are constantly being tracked. Your carrier knows where you are at all times, and will happily provide that information to any law enforcement agency that asks. There's no need to send a "silent SMS." This isn't unique to iPhones; it is true for any mobile device (OnStar, mobile phone, tablet...). It's also true for any car; there a license plate scanners everywhere, so any agency looking for your car will find it. You can make it even easier for them by having any toll agency tag (FastPass, E-ZPass, etc).

HERE'S AN 2ND IMPORTANT UPDATE WITH ADDITIONAL KEY INFO. I promised to post back, if this phantom swiping/tapping/browsing etc recurred; and it has. It stopped for about a week, but then started up again about a week ago.

There's another REALLY IMPORTANT item that I've discovered that relates to this phantom behaviors: They ONLY occur WHEN MY iPHONE IS WITHIN a certain proximity (about 2 FEET) of MY DESKTOP computer. I think that BLUETOOTH devices/drivers from the computer may be responsible and gaining access to the IOS. I wasn't sure to write this initially, so I didn't include it, but I've done about a hundred tests so far just on proximity (next to my computer vs 1 foot away vs 2 ft away and beyond), and I notice that the behaviors ALWAYS stop at (approximately) 2 feet away. More recently, I'm starting to test disabling vs uninstalling the bluetooth drivers on the desktop (since I don't use bluetooth on my computer or iphone). The trick with uninstalling is I think Windows updates keep re-adding the bluetooth driver every time I uninstall it. So lately I'm experimenting with just "disabling" it under Bluetooth Settings.

So, it would be really interesting to see if OTHERS out there on this forum, who are experiencing all these same phantom behaviors, TRY THIS OUT, and let me know if it makes a difference.

P.S. Meg, no need to respond to my posts, thanks.