iOS update: Latest iPhone software stops hackers breaking into your handsets through USB
There appears to be a strange workaround that could still allow access
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Your support makes all the difference.Apple's latest software brings new technology that could keep the most secret parts of your phone safe.
iOS 11.4.1 – released today and available to download from the Settings app – includes new USB settings that stop devices from being able to talk to your phone unless you authorise them to. That is intended to stop the use of high-tech devices that can plug into the bottom of the phone and then break through its security.
The use of such technology has risen in recent years. Although everything on an iPhone is protected by a passcode, attacking the phones through their USB port can serve as a way around that protection – potentially exposing all of the hidden information on a phone.
Apple's new feature was expected to arrive in iOS 12, the new update expected in the Autumn. But it has been pushed forward in the new update, which otherwise mostly brings small security and performance upgrades.
The feature is often described as a way of keeping law enforcement from breaking into iPhones. But in truth the protection will keep all kinds of malicious actors out, and could discourage the use of the USB devices more generally.
In practice, the setting works by making a user unlock the iPhone if they want to use a USB accessory, and the phone hasn't been unlocked in the last hour. It can also be forced to turn on by using the iPhone's "Emergency SOS" mode – a feature also referred to as a "panic button" or "cop mode" – which shuts down much of the phone's security as well as offering ways to get in touch with the authorities.
It is turned on by default, and can be found in Touch ID & Passcode section of the Settings app – the "USB accessories" toggle should be off if you want it to be turned on.
Some security experts have raised concerns that there appears to be a way around the protection. Security firm Elcomsoft noted that it is possible to restart the one-hour timer by plugging in an Apple-branded accessory – meaning that a hacker could simply keep plugging one in and ensure that the USB protection does not kick in.
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