14 DAY TRIAL // Earlier this week, Apple released the latest 10.3 stable iOS update and brought many new features, together with fixes to some issues. One of them is the exploit that caused iPhones to repeatedly call 911, thus overwhelming the emergency service.
Apple has fixed the issue that caused iPhones to call 911 and summon the police, fire department or EMS services, according to The Wall Street Journal. Back in October last year, an 18-year-old iOS developer from Arizona discovered and published code that caused iPhones to repeatedly dial 911.
The only way to get iPhones to stop dialing 911 was to reportedly turn them off. The bug only worked on Apple’s smartphones, and the code exploited an iPhone feature that allowed users to start a phone call immediately after tapping on a phone number.
Apple finally found a fix
The teenager was later arrested, but after the code was published online, thousands of such 911 calls were placed all across the United States, thus severely disrupting emergency services.
Fortunately, Apple has found a fix for the issue and introduced it in the iOS 10.3 update. Apple’s iPhones now require users to provide a secondary confirmation before automatically calling a number by using the method of simply tapping on the screen.
iPhones that run iOS 10.3 will now place calls only after they receive a secondary confirmation, thus fixing the vulnerability that overwhelmed emergency services in the US. Apple stated that it initially worked with app developers to fix the issue, and found that some applications already received an update to fix the problem. iOS 10.3 also brings features like Find My AirPods and lots of other security fixes.
A recent report detailed a Siri prank that convinced many iPhone users to call 911 emergency services by saying the number “108” to Siri. Police already urged iPhone users not to abuse the feature, as emergency lines could get potentially tied up.