Apple Releases Update To Prevent FaceTime Eavesdropping
CUPERTINO (CBS SF / AP) — Apple has released an iPhone update to fix a FaceTime flaw that allowed people to eavesdrop on others while using its group video chat feature.
The repair is included in the latest version of Apple's iOS 12 system, which became available to install Thursday.
The bug allowed some people to turn an iPhone into a live microphone while using Group FaceTime. Apple turned off the group chat feature last week, several days after a 14-year-old boy in Tucson, Arizona, discovered the flaw. He and his mom tried to contact Apple for several days before the company responded.
The delay in responding to the flaw raised questions about the Cupertino-based company's handling of it.
Earlier this week, a pair of congressional lawmakers penned a letter to CEO Tim Cook, warning him he had two weeks to answer questions surrounding the flaw. The lawmakers want to know if Cook and his company knew about the bug before a the teenager discovered the glitch while FaceTiming with his friends last month.
Apple credited the Tucson teenager, Grant Thompson, for discovering the FaceTime bug.
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