Can iphone cameras be hacked? My phone took 12 pictures of me getting dressed in my bathroom using the front facing camera. Both of my hands are in the picture doing my hair so there is no way I could have accidentally taken the pictures.
Nothing is impossible, but its very very unlikely the phone could be hacked to commandeer the camera. And Even if that was the case, unless the phone was positioned to look at you how would they maneuver it into position?
Usually iPhones sit on there backs or fronts covering either camera or pointing them straight up to the ceiling unless you position your phone on its side for some reason, and point the camera at your bathroom?
If you have a pet or mischievous significant other, its possible they activated the camera from the lockscreen. (Yes its happened to me with my cat) and took several pictures.
Only one of those articles was relevant to your assertion that iPhone cameras can be remotely hacked, the BBC article. And, it remains unsubstantiated rumor. Thomas can correct me but I believe that actual security experts don't believe it.
IdrisSeabright wrote:
Only one of those articles was relevant, the BBC article. And, it remains unsubstantiated rumor. Thomas can correct me but I believe that actual security experts don't believe it.
I would not go so far as to say that the iPhone's camera can't be hacked. I try not to speak in absolutes these days.
However, if it is possible to get access to the camera silently, without the usual request that the user must approve to allow an app to access the camera, it is not currently known. If this is possible, it would involve a vulnerability in iOS, and iOS vulnerabilities have a historical precedent of being worth a lot of money... like, as in a million US dollars or more.
You're not going to find run-of-the-mill malware using that kind of thing. If you're a malware author, are you going to write some janky software using an iOS vulnerability and maybe make a little bit of money, or are you going to sell it on the black or gray market for 6 figures or more?
The average user will never see this kind of threat on iOS. On the other hand, if you have the interest of a powerful and wealthy organization - like, say, the CIA - then it's possible. Of course, in this case, you're pretty thoroughly hosed, since such an organization could bug your house, your car, your office, tap your phones, monitor your location via cell networks, etc, and generally have their fingers in every part of your life. What's a little phone infection in the face of that?
chase_daniel wrote:
Those articles don't talk about the FBI paying for the San Bernardino shooter's passcode like you're assuming without reading them it seems.
Huh? I never said anything about the FBI and the older iPhone with an older version of iOS. Which, since you brought it up, was done remotely.
I also never said the iPhone can't be hacked. I said that at this time, the camera on your iPhone is not being activated remotely. Again, nothing you've cited has indicated that's currently possible.
I'd say they're all relevant but then again I try to set aside my bias and actually gather information that may challenge preconceived notions.
When you manage to set aside your preconceived notions and biases, please post back.
Please read Thomas's post above.
LOL!! You must have a time machine or something because everything he said was true but not anymore.
Do any of you have any credentials to make such statements? Some diplomas or a successful career in the cyber security industry? Do you keep up with the latest threats?
I've always tried to cite my sources and have yet to see anyone here to the same. There's a lot of "I think" and "maybe."
The conclusion to the speculations above is that if the government wants to, they can. Everyone gets that...
This pretty much concedes to my argument though without even realizing because what I've been saying (and what those articles were talking about) is that there have been multiple major leaks of iOS and Apple specific malware so now anybody with a basement and a laptop and no friends can watch you on your webcam, track your location and all those lovely things, no Q Division required.
Thousands of pages of documents and reports on the were published by major news outlets earlier this year. That only in a James Bond movie attitude is just not true anymore. To that point, go watch Goldeneye and then tell me how much better every single piece of futuretech back then is now.
Oh and here's the US-CERT warning everyone that there's a massive unpatched iOS specific Bluetooth exploit out right now that's put millions of devices open to remote execution of commands (they're probably just playing Angry Birds so don't worry people they're not stealing your data or invading your privacy..hackers are well known to have extremely high ethics and low intelligence).
09/12/2017 - US Computer Emergency Readiness Team:
US-CERT is aware of a collection of Bluetooth vulnerabilities, known as BlueBorne, potentially affecting millions of unpatched mobile phones, computers, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. A remote attacker could exploit several of these vulnerabilities to take control of affected devices.
US-CERT recommends that users and administrators read Vulnerability Note VU#240311https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/240311https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/240311 for more information.
https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/current-activity/2017/09/12/BlueBorne-Bluetooth-Vul nerabilities
No patch is available as of yet and can anyone remind me how many months went by between when the previous massive vunerability was formally documented and when the it finally got patched?
Was it 5 months or 6 months?
The Blueborne exploit was blocked in iOS in March. No current version of iOS 10.3 or later is vulnerable. Which makes the rest of your rant irrelevant. It shows that you didn't do any real research, or you would have known that.
And yes, I have pursued a career in cybersecurity as part of my management of over 50 enterprise level development and upgrade projects for Fortune 500 companies. My experience in cybersecurity goes back to the first worm ever, created by Robert Morris at Cornell in 1988. However, I was a consultant on the development of Arpanet (which, as I am sure you know, was the base from which the Internet was developed), addressing how to keep it secure among other capabilities. I do follow the latest threats. Perhaps you should also.
Lawrence Finch wrote:
My experience in cybersecurity goes back to the first worm ever, created by Robert Morris at Cornell in 1988.
Do you believe it was, as he has stated on at least some occasions, a student prank gone horribly awry?
More or less. Morris, a graduate researcher, created a concept worm. It was harmless, and he intended that it install itself recursively in computers on the campus computer network. His check for IP addresses had a bug, however, so it spread to all computers connected to the Internet worldwide. It didn't do any harm, but it did overload some networks. And it was the impetus for the cybersecurity act passed by congress.
What can i do in this case?
What BS! Please provide even ONE reliable report of your assertion.
Lawrence Finch wrote:
What BS! Please provide even ONE reliable report of your assertion.
They never do.
TR, perhaps you should make this a User Tip.
Brilliant analysis.
Thanks for the clarification, Thomas. Very helpful.
krm2012 iPhone (I think) is almost impossible to hack but still it can be hacked.
Can iPhones cameras be hacked?
