Although he could not immediately contact the company, the teenager will be rewarded for reporting the error in the Apple app
The Apple technology company will reward the young man who discovered the bug in the FaceTime Group feature that allowed anyone to spy on users before they accepted or rejected a call. According to network security and ethical hacking specialists from the International Institute of Cyber Security, the bug could even enable the front camera of an Apple device.
The design flaw was initially reported by Young Grant Thompson, only 14 years old; however, the family failed to contact Apple to report the error on time, and it was discovered and subsequently reported by someone else.
Payment will be made through the Apple vulnerability bounty program, network security specialists reported; the company also announced the delivery of a special gifts package to support Thompson’s education.
“In addition to correcting the reported error, our network security team performed a strict audit on the entire FaceTime structure to implement the necessary updates; as mentioned by a spokesman for the company.
As an additional protection measure for users who have not yet installed the latest version of Apple’s software, the company decided to block the Live Photos feature: “Among the fixes made is the solution for a vulnerability previously Unknown in FaceTime’s photo submission feature for past versions of iOS and Mac”.
“To protect customers who have not yet been upgraded to the latest software, we have updated our servers to block the FaceTime Live photos feature for previous IOS and MacOS”, said Apple.
Apple recently launched the IOS 12.4.1 operating system, which, according to the company, “provides important security updates, so it is recommended that all users update their systems.” The company added a last thank you to Thompson for his bug report on his security alert.
He is a well-known expert in mobile security and malware analysis. He studied Computer Science at NYU and started working as a cyber security analyst in 2003. He is actively working as an anti-malware expert. He also worked for security companies like Kaspersky Lab. His everyday job includes researching about new malware and cyber security incidents. Also he has deep level of knowledge in mobile security and mobile vulnerabilities.
