The IT Nerd

A new critical security flaw discovered in iOS 8 and up allows anyone to bypass iPhone’s passcode and gain access to personal information using the benevolent nature of Apple’s personal assistant Siri. What’s scary is that this flaw also exists in the latest iOS 10.2 beta. Specifically the third beta of iOS 10.2. The security glitch has been discovered by EverythingApplePro and iDeviceHelps and is now in the public domain via a video demonstration:

Until Apple fixes this issue, iOS users can protect themselves by disabling Siri on the lock screen via the following method:

• Go to Settings
• Go to Touch ID & Passcode
• Disable Siri on the Lockscreen by toggling the switch to disable.

Once disabled, you will only be able to use Siri after you have unlocked your iOS device using the passcode or your fingerprint.

Alternatively, you can just remove Photos access from Siri using the following method:

• Go to Settings
• Go to Privacy
• Go to Photos and then prevent Siri from accessing pictures.

Since iOS 10.2 is still in beta, you can likely expect a fix to be rolled in to that when it is finally released. Thus don’t forget to upgrade to that release when it appears. In the meantime, you should protect yourself accordingly.

This entry was posted on November 17, 2016 at 11:00 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Apple. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.