FOX News recently aired a video titled “Beware the Square“. A FOXNews.com reporter talks with Sascha Segan from PCMag.com. If you don’t know anything about the iPhone virus/iPhone SMS Hack, this video should answer your questions. Watch it!
Every single iPhone is at risk today. And so far there’s really no way to fix it. That’s the warning from a couple of cyber security experts who say they found a way to hijack and completely gain control of the phone. Here’s the iPhone. Mine has my niece in it. There is a flaw in the text messaging system, the hacker sends a message with just a single square character and after that could take control of the phone, and by the way it’s not just the iPhone, we’re told Microsoft Mobile and Google’s Android have the same issues. With us now is Sascha Segan, he is the lead analyst for mobile phones for PC Magazine and PCMag.com.
Reporter: Now I’m told that you can stop this by taking over yours by watching for these characters.
Sascha Segan: Well if you see first of all it’s not actually one message, it’s 500 messages but the first 499 are invisible. The only one you see is the very last one which has that square box character.
Reporter: But I know I received a message, but I don’t know what is?
Sascha Segan: No you don’t even see that you’ve received the message, but for some reason your phone seems very busy for a little while then you see the box character appear then you can either turn off your phone or put it in airplane mode and the hackers can’t do anything.
Reporter: But they’re in now though.
Sascha Segan: Well, they’re in but if your phone is off or in airplane mode they are not in any more. They’re connected remotely so if you disconnect the network, they can’t get in.
Reporter: And the only way that they can get back in is to go through the 499 invisible ones again and then do the square thing again and then all you have to do is go back to airplane mode.
Sascha Segan: Bingo!
Reporter: So if I get a message that has that square box on it I should not click it?
Sascha Segan: No you should turn it off.
Reporter: Alright what if I do click it?
Sascha Segan: If you do click it, and you wait a little while clicking the message doesn’t do anything but if you wait a little while the hackers may be able to send additional commands that could do things such as crash your phone, lock up your phone, disconnect your phone from the network.
Reporter: Can they use it as a zombie?
Sascha Segan: Now they are saying that they can, but they have not demonstrated that. The only thing that they’ve actually demonstrated is crashing the phone, but they say they can use it as a zombie but no one has actually seen that happen.
Reporter: And the zombie meaning they can take control of your phone and use it to do something nefarious or whatever they want with a series of computers they have hijacked around the world. So I guess the bottom line is, as creative as this thing is and interesting as the concept is if you see the little square turn your phone off and you’re foiled.
Sascha Segan: Absolutely, and one of the interesting things here is that Apple should fix this patch.
Reporter: They’re Apple and they will.
Sascha Segan: Hopefully yes, but these guys told Apple about it about a month ago and they’re still waiting. Google has already patched their phone. The Google Android phones if you’re on the latest software are not vulnerable.
Reporter: Come on Apple, what’s wrong with Apple? I saw Steve Jobs at the TMZ we know he’s out and about doing things.
Sascha Segan: Of course Apple has no comments on this matter
[via FoxNews.com]
