Yahoo Finance Millions of iPhones are vulnerable to ‘ping of death’ Wi-Fi attack
Millions of older iPhones and iPads are at risk from a flaw which allows attackers to send a ‘ping of death’ to remotely paralyse machines, a security researcher has warned.
The attack only works when the hacker is on the same Wi-Fi network as a victim – so users are advised to avoid public Wi-Fi networks such as those in cafes and airports.
Dr Lukasz Olejnik said that a recent software update has protected newer iPhones against the attack, but that older machines are still vulnerable.
Olejnik told The Telegraph, ‘The vulnerability can be exploited against any system on the same network.
‘So for example users of a Wi-Fi in the Louvre or a café can all be affected if the attacker is connected to same network and sends a “deadly packet”‘.
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The vulnerability affects models including iPhone 5, and Olejnik says that the defence against it is to avoid public Wi-Fi when using an older device.
