Apple’s Group FaceTime bug that went viral Monday, allowing callers to listen in on unsuspecting recipients took the world by surprise. But someone actually tried…
Apple’s Group FaceTime bug that went viral Monday, allowing callers to listen in on unsuspecting recipients took the world by surprise. But someone actually tried to warn the electronics giant about it. Last week.
A Twitter user by the handle of @MGT7500, and identified by The Wall Street Journal as Michele Thompson, wrote on the social media platform on Jan. 20, tagging Apple’s Support page as well as Fox News to try and attract media attention.
« My teen found a major security flaw in Apple’s new iOS. He can listen in to your iPhone/iPad without your approval, » Thompson wrote, « I have video. Submitted bug report to @AppleSupport…waiting to hear back to provide details. Scary stuff! #apple #bugreport @foxnews. »
After news of the bug went viral Monday night, fellow Twitter user John H. Meyer discovered Thompson’s tweet, reaching out and sharing the video evidence that the bug was, indeed, exploitable last week.
According to the Journal, the bug was discovered by Thompson’s son Grant while he was playing « Fortnite » and FaceTiming with friends.
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Meyer, a venture capitalist at Transpire Ventures, tells USA TODAY in a Twitter direct message that after quickly looking over Thompson’s profile he realized « that she’s been trying for a week to bring attention to this by tweeting at Apple and many different news orgs, » with Meyer eventually speaking with Thompson over the phone Tuesday morning.
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USA — IT A 14-year-old discovered the Group FaceTime bug, and his mother tried to...