Apple has decided to remove the wired headphone jack and use a wireless connection for playing audio on the iPhone 7. This decision while being praised by some users can lead to potential security problems.
Can Criminals Hijack Phones Using the Wireless Audio on the IPhone 7?
Apple decided to remove the headphone jack and use wireless audio options in their latest device – The iPhone 7. And while the consumers can enjoy the benefit of not having to deal with cables, there are some potential security issues that may arise. And experts are already quite worried that some of them may come true.
- Tracking – There are serious potential problems that can arise from using wireless standards. As they depend on sending and receiving signals carried over the air, anyone can pick up those signals and use software to track the user’s locations. Using a mesh network of sniffers and/or wardriving any criminal user can potentially expose the real-time location of a victim. This can be achieved easily with open source software, a small laptop and only a few minutes of setup. Blue Hydra is an excellent tool for the job.
- Eavesdropping – It’s no secret that sometimes the security measures introduced by a vendor can be pretty weak. If exploits are found in the wireless link criminals may eavesdrop on the connection or even instigate man in the middle attack by spoofing pairing settings. That could allow malicious users to connect to the victim devices and launch other types of attacks.
- Signal Jamming – Bluetooth operates in a certain frequency range and that can be a problem. Criminals can use signal jammers to disrupt audio communication.
Security experts note that Apple still doesn’t support the Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) and the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) over Bluetooth standards. They provide a number of ways to pair the audio units and the devices that may be more secure than the specified mechanism in the base specification of the wireless technology.
