A team of researchers reveal a vulnerability in the MacBook and iPhone, where an AirDrop exploit could give hackers access to the user’s phone number and email.
AirDrop is a feature that allows sharing of files, documents and photos with other nearby Apple devices. Using WiFi and Bluetooth, the devices could ‘talk’ to each other and share data. The Technical University of Darmstadt says this can lead to device vulnerability and an unwanted breach.
During the connection, a hacker can potentially ‘eavesdrop’ and access the devices’ email addresses and phone numbers using brute force attacks.
The researchers say they reported the problem to Apple, but it has yet to be fixed. To counter this, they suggest turning off AirDrop by going to Settings, General and AirDrop, then choosing the ‘Receiving Off’ option. Also, the researchers recommend only turning this on when they want to share files with another MacBook or iPhone.
