Jakarta –
The Chinese government recently claimed that they found a loophole to break the security of Apple’s AirDrop feature. Apparently, this loophole was discovered a long time ago and was reported to Apple. Why is it still broken?
A group of researchers at the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany discovered a security flaw in iOS in 2019. The flaw could pose a serious threat to AirDrop’s functionality.
Through this loophole, the identity of the AirDrop sender can be leaked, namely the telephone number and email address. The hacker only needs to use a device that can connect to a WiFi connection and is close to the target.
The research team has reported the findings to Apple, but the company from Cupertino, USA has not done anything about the findings. Two years later the same team suggested their solution to patch the gap. However, Apple again ignored the report.
Now the consequences of Apple’s ignorance regarding this loophole are visible. Law enforcement in Beijing, China, announced that local police can monitor anyone who uses AirDrop to send “harmful information” to other people on the Chinese capital’s subway trains.
According to Chinese law enforcement, they were able to find the identity of the sender with the help of Wangshendongjian Technology, as quoted by detikINET from Techspot, Monday (15/1/2024).
Chinese police have succeeded in identifying a number of suspects using this method, without stating whether these suspects have been arrested or not.
“This increases the efficiency and accuracy of solving cases and avoids the spread of inappropriate content as well as the potential negative effects it causes,” wrote the Chinese government.
For your information, AirDrop is Apple’s file sending protocol, where users can send files to other users who are located nearby directly. This protocol does not require an internet connection because it uses a combination of Bluetooth and peer-to-peer WiFi to send files.
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(asj/asj)
2024-01-15 14:00:57
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