TECH NEWS – Due to a bug, Apple has disabled the Walkie-Talkie app on its device called Apple Watch.

The Walkie-Talkie is an application that lets two people who had accepted an invitation to send and receive short audio messages. However, Apple said it had been „made aware” of a flaw that „could allow somebody to listen through another customer’s iPhone without consent,” which is why they disabled the feature, and apologised for the inconvenience. They added that they were not aware of the Walkie-Talkie bug being exploited by anybody in the real world, saying that „specific conditions and sequences of events” would be required to get the bug working. In some cases, the callers could activate the microphone on the target’s iPhone even if the recipient did not answer the call. Thankfully, a software update has been issued to avoid the flaw.

Interestingly, Apple found a similar „eavesdropping” flaw in its FaceTime video-calling app back in January, where videos could have been sent without the user knowing about it. It’s unbelievable to see such a major tech company run into similar „open doors” issues in just half a year. Do they lack testers? Do they lack time to test their devices and apps?

In a separate issue, Zoom, a video-conferencing platform has addressed a flaw that let attackers access webcams without permission. A researcher, named Jonathan Leitschuh, found a bug that let attackers initiate video calls and access a target’s webcam, but for some weird reason, Zoom initially described the issue as low priority. However, on Tuesday, it issued an update to address the problem. „We appreciate the hard work of the security researcher in identifying security concerns on our platform,” Zoom said in a statement.

Who knows what other security flaws are there in our devices and apps?

Source: BBC