iOS iPhone Text Message Prank

dejongj

dejongj

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For those who don't know yet, there is a text message prank going around which can freeze your iPhone. It is basically a string of Unicode which utilises a vulnerability.

It looks something like this;
سمَـَّوُوُحخ ̷̴̐خ ̷̴̐خ ̷̴̐خ امارتيخ ̷̴̐خ

In order to prevent being affected by it, switch off notifications of iMessage on the lock screen, good practise anyway but definitely now.

If you have been affected and your phone appears to be crashed, just get a true friend to send you a normal message.

Further detail to be found here;
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/05/27/text_message_unicode_ios_osx_vulnerability/

PS. Naturally that isn't the full string as I don't have a sense of humour as some on her suggest and I don't think it is funny to send it to your friends/family/customers/potential clients of another business etc....
 
Yeah it's pretty dumb that a null pointer error still isn't handled properly, but isn't the maximum downside that your phone reboots? Apple's programmers (or more properly their testers) want a slap but this isn't going to actually brick a phone or launch nukes or anything, right?
 
As I understand it becomes unresponsive, if you aren't used to these kind of things and it happens repeatedly by a 'prankster' then it may panic some people....A bit like bluejacking in the old days where people could send messages to Bluetooth users without identifying themselves....It can be very unnerving to some users who don't understand the technology....
 
dejongj said:
As I understand it becomes unresponsive, if you aren't used to these kind of things and it happens repeatedly by a 'prankster' then it may panic some people....A bit like bluejacking in the old days where people could send messages to Bluetooth users without identifying themselves....It can be very unnerving to some users who don't understand the technology....
Click to expand...

Reports I read said the OS kills messaging (or something called Springboard) which has the effect of bouncing the phone. Which TBH is a bit like using the Facbook app ;)
 
I've read some reports that it can also affect email.

If I understand it correctly it isn't necessarily the imessage app itself, but the notification system that displays them on a locked screen. As such in theory I can see it being possible with other notifications as well.

I cant say I'm an expert on it, I've just had some friends and family affected and looked into it.

Lets hope a patch comes out soon, until then switch off notifications on a lock screen. To be honest from a security perspective it is something anyone should do anyway imo.
 
Passwords, two factor authentications, bank balances, bit on the side etc for all to see and read ;) especially so when notifications come in on multiple devices.

Security is like an onion, and you've just given one layer of defense away.
 
dejongj said:
Passwords, two factor authentications
Click to expand...
what do thee mean passwords? (i know what a password is but how does notifications on a lock screen impact on them?)

Two factor authentications. Nope lost me there Im afraid.

Balances, bit on the side, yes fair point but not something that would bother me.
 
According to Reddit, if you make it the caption of a photo on Instagram then it crashes that too. It's something deep in notification centre.
 
DorsetDude said:
what do thee mean passwords? (i know what a password is but how does notifications on a lock screen impact on them?)

Two factor authentications. Nope lost me there Im afraid.

Balances, bit on the side, yes fair point but not something that would bother me.
Click to expand...
When you activate an account like outlook.com and the likes including google mail it will send you the autentication code via text message.

My banks also send a verification code as do PayPal and the likes.

Two factor authentication is when you use another device in combination with a username/password. It is extra security but not when you leave it to all to see. I hope that makes more sense.
 
Don't want to turn this into an anti-iPhone thread but I kind of like the "private notifications" in Android. Selectable by app you can choose notify, don't notify or private notify. The last one tells you there's an alert from the app but you have to unlock the phone to read what it is.
 
My iPhone says I have message on the lock screen, but it doesn't show its content.. You have to swipe to unlock to read it.
There is a setting in the menu somewhere to change it to this, as by default it does show a preview of the message.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Don't want to turn this into an anti-iPhone thread but I kind of like the "private notifications" in Android. Selectable by app you can choose notify, don't notify or private notify. The last one tells you there's an alert from the app but you have to unlock the phone to read what it is.
Click to expand...
That's an option in iOS too, whenever I get a SMS message, my lock screen just says "New message" and the sender's name. I have to unlock to actually view the message itself.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Don't want to turn this into an anti-iPhone thread but I kind of like the "private notifications" in Android. Selectable by app you can choose notify, don't notify or private notify. The last one tells you there's an alert from the app but you have to unlock the phone to read what it is.
Click to expand...
It is the same on ios, windows phone, webos in my experience. But not enabled by default.

In context of this I don't know whether it would still crash if you have the notification but not display the content? I don't fancy trying, I think the official recommendation is to just switch it off for now.
 
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