WiFi Networks Could Possibly Brick an iPhone

[PhilSynowiec]

Two months ago in February we witnessed a strange bug in iOS that cause some users to entirely brick their iPhones. iPhones would brick if certain users, not running iOS 9.3.1 or later, set their device's date to a specific one in early 1970. Apple was quick to release iOS 9.3.1 once the bug was found and the issue was resolved.

All seems fine and dandy now that we have the new update. However researchers Patrick Kelly and Matt Harrigan speculate WiFi networks could potentially brick iPhones with the aforementioned bug.

All of Apple's device use Network Time Protocol to confirm the current time and date. This means if someone were to set up a malicious WiFi network and doctor the time and date to the one in the bug, the iPhone which connected to that WiFi could have a problem.

While this problem is highly unlikely, due to the fact that a user would need to manually connect to a WiFi network, there is one loophole. We've seen that Starbucks stores around the country usually have a free-to-use network named "attwifi" at almost every location. Using the same moniker for each store allows coffee drinkers to automatically connect when entering.

So think about it. If someone were to set up a malicious WiFi network with the same name and no encryption key, a user could accidentally connect and acquire the time and date bug.

If you're feeling a bit uneasy after this article, don't worry because there is a simple fix. Remember that the bug only affects users on iOS 9.3 and below, updating to iOS 9.3.1 or above will solve this issue.

Source: SlashGear

 

[slowmotion]

I was told to get a bonus if i set the time and date back to 1970's Jan.
So i tried it without hesitation.