High school student allegedly uses device to turn off nearby iPhones

#1

Post by faccacta » Tue, Dec 26, 2023, 2:32 AM UTC

High school student allegedly uses device to turn off nearby iPhones
arlnow.com

Re: High school student allegedly uses device to turn off nearby iPhones

#2

Post by dharmab » Tue, Dec 26, 2023, 4:15 AM UTC

Wild guess: A handheld EMP generator. You can make them out of a battery and an ignition coil.

Re: High school student allegedly uses device to turn off nearby iPhones

#3

Post by yellow_lead » Tue, Dec 26, 2023, 4:16 AM UTC

It's probably a flipper zero. There is a Bluetooth iOS spamming script which can cause the devices to freeze or crash.

Re: High school student allegedly uses device to turn off nearby iPhones

#4

Post by mentos » Tue, Dec 26, 2023, 4:18 AM UTC

yellow_lead wrote: post #3

It's probably a flipper zero. There is a Bluetooth iOS spamming script which can cause the devices to freeze or crash.

ha when i was in school we used 'punters' to kick people off AOL

Re: High school student allegedly uses device to turn off nearby iPhones

#5

Post by tech234a » Tue, Dec 26, 2023, 4:23 AM UTC

Reminds me of the Effective Power bug [1] from 2015 though that didn't require special hardware.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpringBoard#%22effective_power...

Re: High school student allegedly uses device to turn off nearby iPhones

#6

Post by lacrimacida » Tue, Dec 26, 2023, 4:24 AM UTC

Maybe it was a blessing in disguise, all those highschoolers would be much better off without a smartphone while in school (barring emergencies) and perhaps outside of school too.

Re: High school student allegedly uses device to turn off nearby iPhones

#7

Post by CableNinja » Tue, Dec 26, 2023, 4:24 AM UTC

mentos wrote: post #4

yellow_lead wrote: post #3

It's probably a flipper zero. There is a Bluetooth iOS spamming script which can cause the devices to freeze or crash.

ha when i was in school we used 'punters' to kick people off AOL

s/CON/CON

Re: High school student allegedly uses device to turn off nearby iPhones

#8

Post by AndrewKemendo » Tue, Dec 26, 2023, 4:24 AM UTC

If that kid (and their parents consent) is on HN I’d like to buy them a soda and see about hiring them as an intern.

we’re both in the DC area and I have a few interesting robotics projects for aspiring hackers

Re: High school student allegedly uses device to turn off nearby iPhones

#9

Post by AndrewKemendo » Tue, Dec 26, 2023, 4:25 AM UTC

yellow_lead wrote: post #3

It's probably a flipper zero. There is a Bluetooth iOS spamming script which can cause the devices to freeze or crash.

Link to the script? I have a F0 and would like to try it

Re: High school student allegedly uses device to turn off nearby iPhones

#10

Post by CharlesW » Tue, Dec 26, 2023, 4:32 AM UTC

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #9

yellow_lead wrote: post #3

It's probably a flipper zero. There is a Bluetooth iOS spamming script which can cause the devices to freeze or crash.

Link to the script? I have a F0 and would like to try it

It’s probably this one: https://www.zdnet.com/article/flipper-zero-can-lock-up-an-ip...

This attack was mitigated in 17.2: https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/15/24003406/apple-iphone-fl...