As you probably already know, recently a major security flaw in FaceTime has come to light, through which it is possible to access, without many complications, the camera and microphone of other Apple computers without practically the other person knowing about it.
Now, from Apple they try to make us understand that, until yesterday, it was not located, but the truth is that this is not entirely so, because there is some evidence that indicates that, a woman, along with her teenage son, have already contacted support because they had discovered this same fault before, but despite this they did not give them very simple solutions.
Failure in FaceTime is not so new: a mother and her son have already reported it to Apple support
As we have learned, it seems that whoever really discovered this failure, or at least who reported it to Apple for the first time, It was a 14-year-old teenager, who tried to make him see it to the support by email together with his mother, which in this case is a lawyer.
The fact is that they tried to warn them of what was happening with FaceTime in the latest version of iOS, and for example On January 22, he received an email from Apple's security department after sending them even his own video from his YouTube channel showing the failure in question, and even through Twitter we can see how his mother published on the 21st the finding of your child in question:
My teen found a major security flaw in Apple's new iOS. He can listen in to your iPhone / iPad without your approval. I have video. Submitted bug report to @AppleSupport… Waiting to hear back to provide details. Scary stuff! #apple #bugreport @foxnews
- MGT7 (@ MGT7500) January 21, 2019
Now, not everything is here, because the final answer that they give them from Apple Support, is that to report it, a developer account had to be created in Apple, in order to be able to present the bugs officially, something that, as is quite logical, is not so easy for those who do not have much knowledge on the subject, which is why they tried to do it, but after seeing that there was not so much success they even decided to send letters to Apple itself in order to inform, trying to demand from the firm a solution to the serious security problem that was present.
Finally, We leave you below more details about this whole story and how things have been discovered, thanks to tweets from John H. Meyer:
That Apple FaceTime bug? It was discovered over a * WEEK * ago by a teenager, who's mom has desperately tried to alert Apple to this.
Just got off the phone with the teenager's mom and I can confirm all of this, also with visual evidence. #apple #facetime #facetimebug #bug
- John H. Meyer (@BEASTMODE) January 29, 2019
VIDEO: Here is a video, recorded & sent to Apple by a 14 yr old & his mom, on JAN 23rd, alerting them to the dangerous #FaceTime bug, that has threatened the privacy of millions. I've removed sensitive / private info on behalf of the mother (an attorney), whom I just spoke to. pic.twitter.com/YIBKXEP3mI
- John H. Meyer (@BEASTMODE) January 29, 2019
Quick facts from my call with the 14 year old's mom:
- Yes, a 14 year old discovered this bug. He did so "around" Saturday, 1/19
- Mother is a local lawyer in AZ and sent a formal notice to Apple on 1/25
- That formal notice the mom sent to Apple on 1/25 is attached pic.twitter.com/RMbXp3huab
- John H. Meyer (@BEASTMODE) January 29, 2019
Here is another example of the mother reaching out to Apple again over email on Jan 22, after being repeatedly ignored leading up to 1/22. pic.twitter.com/aN52VqWewv
- John H. Meyer (@BEASTMODE) January 29, 2019
Another quick update. The teenager's mother has confirmed to me that this was discovered on 1/19. After multiple failed attempts with Apple support, the mother (an attorney) emailed and faxed a formal notice to Apple on 1/25 (see this notice in my prior tweet)
- John H. Meyer (@BEASTMODE) January 29, 2019
Here is the mom's official bug report to Apple. Note that the mom self-describes as "not at all techy" and was baffled that Apple Support asked her, an average citizen, to sign up for an Apple developer account to then submit an official bug report, in order to be taken seriously pic.twitter.com/PWdrsych5t
- John H. Meyer (@BEASTMODE) January 29, 2019
A quote from the mother of the 14 yr old who discovered the FaceTime bug on 1/19/19… pic.twitter.com/J3JADsq0ku
- John H. Meyer (@BEASTMODE) January 29, 2019
Clearly, we in the tech industry need to produce better ways for average citizens to report security vulnerabilities… and actually be listened to.
- John H. Meyer (@BEASTMODE) January 29, 2019