Edward Snowden says powering off the phone won’t cut it

Jun 11, 2014 14:50 GMT  ·  By

Everyone’s favorite whistleblower, Edward Snowden, revealed in an interview with Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News that the NSA can remotely switch on the mic on your iPhone and tap your conversations with the people around you.

It’s really not as dramatic as some people claim it to be. First of all, it’s much easier said than done. Second of all, you should only be concerned about this if you know the feds have you on their radar.

So unless you’ve discovered where they took those aliens that crashed in Roswell, New Mexico, 67 years ago, you’re probably safe.

But in case you have reason to believe they’re out to hunt you down like the rat that you are, here’s an easy way to make sure your phone can’t be tapped remotely.

Snowden explained that the only way to ensure safety is to completely kill the phone with DFU (Device Firmware Upgrade) mode. When placing your iPhone into DFU Mode it doesn’t load the OS before attempting the restore. Simply powering it off won’t cut it, said Snowden. So here’s how to do that.

How to Enter DFU Mode

1. Plug your device into your computer with a USB cable. 2. Turn off the device. 3. Hold the Power button for 3 seconds. 4. Hold the Home and Power buttons for 10 seconds. 5. Release the Power button but keep holding the Home button for 10 to 15 seconds.

And when you're done discussing your world domination plans, you can revert the process by just holding the Home and Power buttons until the Apple Logo appears. That's it!