In a reminder that we’re never as safe as we think we are, some hackers from the Georgia Institute of Technology revealed that they successfully hacked an iPhone and installed malware through a modified charger, in under a minute, and without user interactions. The process was completely automated by a small onboard microcomputer called a Beagle Board they’d installed, and so small that they hid it into a seemingly normal looking iPhone charger. As soon as a user plugs in their phone, the device gets to work installing the malware into the phone, and it’s all completed in under a minute. Read the incredible details here. Even scarier is that the whole device can be built for under $40.
The details were unveiled in preparation for a conference session where they’ll make suggestions as to how Apple can plug the gaping hole in their operating system, but for now we should be reasonably safe. They aren’t sharing the exact details as to how it was done, and that leave more malicious minds to figure it out for themselves, which should take some time.