WiFi And Bluetooth Vulnerabilities In iOS 11 Revealed By Report

November 27, 2017

WiFi And Bluetooth Vulnerabilities In Ios 11

It has been found that disabling Wi-Fi and Bluetooth from within the Control Centre in iOS 11 isn’t quite what it seems according to a report by the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation)You would think that the moment you switch Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off, that it is the end of that rather uneventful story. This isn’t the case, because iOS 11 in fact keeps both of these connections alive, just without you knowing.

What Exactly does iOS 11 do to your Wireless Communications?

What in fact happens when turning WiFi and Bluetooth off in the Control Center, is that only active connections are terminated. Apple keeps WiFi and Bluetooth enabled for Apple Services. Location services stays enabled, as does Hand-off and Instant Hotspot.

Early in the morning at 5 am, a demon then awakes in your iOS 11 device, looking to cause trouble and haunt your every move. It does this by turning on WiFi and Bluetooth without your consent or knowledge so it can sell you things.

Not only that, but WiFi and Bluetooth will re-enable if you drive or walk to a new location. iOS 11 really is a ghostly apparition keeping track of every little thing you do.

Is there a way to completely disable WiFi and Bluetooth anymore?

This is a big issue because a constant WiFi transmission can easily be used to track location and can even be used for targeted advertising.

Not really turning off your WiFi and Bluetooth from the Control Center is one thing, but actually re-enabling these wireless communications without your consent at a fixed time every day is a whole different kettle of fish.

The only real way to turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth is to either set your iOS 11 device to Aeroplane mode or completely switch them off in the settings.

Why not give users the option?

This wouldn’t be such a big deal if Apple allowed you the option, or at the very least, explained what turning off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in the Control Center actually does. The fact that Apple sees fit to mislead users, only shows that they know what they are doing is unethical.

Android makes sure that you know exactly what each application has access to on your phone and that when you turn off wireless communications from within the quick access bar, they are truly off. This should be the rule rather than the exception and it is a rather worrying concept that Apple are playing with here.

The strangest thing is that in iOS 10, the Control Centre worked exactly as you would expect. When you switched off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, they were both truly off. It would be interesting to know exactly why Apple decided to change this in iOS 11.

What is a possible reason for this change?

Targeted advertising is a big thing nowadays, and this could be a reason for this major change by Apple. The fact that Apple can still communicate with your device and keep track of you even when you think you have turned these settings off, allows for constant monitoring of your whereabouts, making it easier to sell you things.

It could be the case that many people don’t mind this change. The change allows for uninterrupted communications with other Apple products such as the Apple Watch and Pencil. Nonetheless, it should really have been mentioned by Apple. Transparency is important when it comes to people’s privacy and Apple seem to have lost this view.

It used to be the case that Apple were more than happy to fight for the rights of their users, but now they look to be selling those same loyal users down the river.

Related Articles

Cyberattacks Cost SMBs $200,000 on Average

SMBs (small and medium businesses) are often working on making sure that…

Is 5G Technology a Haven for Hackers?

5G rollout across the world is very much underway. Promising speeds of…

Hackers Next Targets are Schools

Schools’ hold a large amount of very valuable information, making it vitally…