PSA: No, hackers can’t take over your iPhone...anymore

What most people assume a “hacker” looks like - Getty Images

There’s a story going around about google researchers finding a flaw in iOS that would allow someone to take over and control your iPhone through its WiFi connection with very little effort. It’s easy clickbait, but here’s why it’s not something you should worry about.

First, a bit of backstory. The researchers in question are part of Google’s Project Zero team, which is a group of security analysts whose job it is to find flaws and vulnerabilities in software. They’re basically “hackers” that use their powers for good.

When they find exploits in software, they’re tasked with notifying the developers right away so that it can be patched as soon as possible. They don’t release any information about a vulnerability until the developers have had time to patch it.

The story going around now is pretty scary because this exploit would have let anyone near you completely take over your iPhone and access anything on it. What a great headline, right? Better click on it!

While the story is technically true, what seems to be getting buried is that the researchers didn’t release this information until they had already shown it to Apple and given them time to patch it. They also found no evidence that it had ever been exploited in the wild. So it’s a non-issue at this point.

What’s important to take away from this is that, yes, vulnerabilities exist and are often patched. That’s why you should always keep your devices up to date.

Also, there are teams of researchers out there getting paid to find these exploits so that they can be fixed. They’re going to such great lengths to discover them that the bad guys who might actually exploit them don’t have the time or resources to keep up.

So if you come across a clickbait headline about hackers being able to take over your iPhone, you can keep on scrolling.

And can we please stop using the term hackers? Leave it in the 90’s where it belongs.