Jamf Threat Labs has revealed a new security threat that threatens iPhone users. According to cybersecurity experts, any iPhone running iOS 16 can fall victim to this fake Airplane Mode threat. While this threat makes you think your phone is disconnected from the internet, it causes your iPhone to be exploited.
It is currently unclear how this attack took place. Jamf Threat Labs just explains how easy it is for a hacker to trick a user into thinking they have Airplane Mode turned on.
An iPhone affected by this threat basically pretends to have Airplane Mode turned on to the user, and it looks like the user is offline without even being able to access Safari. But the malware actually stays connected to the internet and accesses the user’s device.
The process demonstrated by Jamf is based on SpringBoard and CommCenter. It doesn’t appear to be actively exploited yet, though, and the article doesn’t explain whether this attack can be done remotely (over the internet) or if the hacker needs to have physical access to your device.
The experts also explained how a hacker could emulate Airplane Mode on an iPhone by changing the logs of how Airplane Mode works and fine-tuning the UX using Objective-C methods, making Wi-Fi and Bluetooth toggles look like disconnected. The lab could then block cellular data access for certain apps with CommsCenter.
It is not yet clear how this malware could be used to exploit iPhone users, so it may not be a big issue to worry about for now. However, this article stands out as an early warning for Apple to change and secure these potential tweaks that a hacker could use to pretend to have Airplane Mode enabled on your iPhone.
Finally, if you want to be extra careful, you can turn on Airplane Mode from your iPhone Settings app instead of Control Center. This way, you make sure that your phone is disconnected. In addition, it is also important to check if there are any downloaded applications that you do not recognize on your device.
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