iPhone FaceTime Bug Could Allow You to Be Heard or Seen Without Answering

January 29, 2019 - 3 minutes read

News of a FaceTime bug that could allow a caller to hear your audio (or even see your video) without you answering is sweeping the internet. According to Buzzfeed News, Apple have announced an iOS update will be available later this week to remedy the issue, but in the meantime it makes sense to disable your FaceTime.

Disabling FaceTime on Your iPhone or iPad

On an iOS device you can disable FaceTime by going to Settings and scroll down to find FaceTime. Then you just slip the slider to grey.

Disabling FaceTime on your Mac

On a Mac, you can disable FaceTime by opening the FaceTime App and then in the main FaceTime menu there is an option to ‘Turn FaceTime Off’

Next Steps…

As much as we love our technology, there are risks involved, and the more cautious amongst us have always worried that we’re being spied on.

We usually assure our clients that, at least on their iPhone, they’re really safe because of Apple’s closed environment and rigorous controls. However, this time the naysayers are right.

Fortunately, as demonstrated by how quickly these warnings have spread, issues like this are usually identified before they’re widely exploited and remedied as a matter of extreme urgency by the vendor.

We often learn lessons from experiences such as these, and one of the lessons is that there are typically options that can reduce our exposure to risk according to our personal preferences.

Some of our recommendations for those who are concerned and want to be hyper-vigilant include:

  • Turn off FaceTime permanently if you don’t normally use it
  • Remove and de-register unwanted apps
  • Check which applications you’ve connected to Facebook and remove any old and obsolete permissions
  • Set secure, unique passwords for every application or site you use – never re-use the same password across multiple applications/sites (we recommend using an app like LastPass to stay on top of them – LastPass can generate secure passwords for you, securely store all your passwords, and fill them in on all your devices including on your phone or desktop computer).

For those who are concerned about security, we also recommend iPhone over Android counterparts, as the architecture and nature of Apple’s eco-system leaves it a lot less vulnerable to uncontrolled and malicious apps. Apple have also demonstrated a tenacious commitment to protecting the privacy of your devices, going so far as to deny the FBI assistance in ‘cracking’ an accused criminal’s iPhone, and introducing market-leading protections in their Safari browser to ensure you have greater control over what information you share with advertisers and websites.

Tags: ,