iPhone and iPad users are being warned about a potential glitch in the date setting of their devices, which, if activated, could cause their operating system to brick.
Tech researcher Zach Straley first brought attention to the problem regarding Apple devices in a video he posted on YouTube in February.
He discovered that, if you manually set the date on your iPhone or iPad to Jan. 1, 1970, it would cause the iOS device to malfunction, ultimately leaving it unusable.
While Apple engineers have since addressed the issue with a recent patch of iOS 9.3, tech experts expressed concern that the system glitch could be activated by crooked individuals through a network as a form of technological attack.
Many are worried that Apple device users could leave themselves vulnerable to such hacking if they unsuspectingly wander into hostile wireless networks.
Bricking Apple Devices via Network
Gadget security experts Matt Harrigan and Patrick Kelley conducted an experiment to find out just how vulnerable Apple devices are to such an attack after connecting to wireless networks.
They tried to exploit the tendency of many iOS smartphones and tablets to automatically hook up to a Wi-Fi network have signed into before by creating another network using the same name the devices recognize.
iPhones and iPads are known to automatically set their time and date based on the ones provided by servers for network time protocols (NTPs) located all over the world. Harrigan and Kelley had the test devices connect to the hostile time server they created, causing them to automatically reset their time and fail to reboot.
Before they made their findings public, Harrigan and Kelley worked together with Apple to develop a fix for devices affected by the glitch.
Both experts believe the problem with the date setting lies in the reliance of certain apps on security certificates that transmit encrypted data to and from the Apple device. It seems that the system finds it difficult to comprehend when it is given a date with a year that predates the one issued by the security certificate.
Protecting Your Device against Network Attacks
To prevent iPhones and iPads from suffering such an attack, owners are advised to do the following:
1. Only connect to trusted Wi-Fi networks that have password protection
2. Do not use Internet connections that do not have safety certificates in place
3. Make sure that your Apple device has the latest version of iOS 9.3.1
