Apple apologizes for FaceTime eavesdropping bug, update coming next week

Apple disables FaceTime after serious security flaw found
Apple iPhone users discovered a serious FaceTime bug that lets you hear audio from another iPhone or even view live video without the recipient’s knowledge.

Earlier this week Apple was forced to disable its Group FaceTime feature on its servers after it was discovered that users could eavesdrop on someone without them even answering the call. Shortly after videos of the bug started appearing on social media, Apple said it would release a software update for iOS and MacOS devices this week that would fix the bug.

On Friday, Apple issued a statement apologizing to users for the issue and stating the company has fixed it — but the update is now set for release next week.

Apple also thanked the Thompson family, who originally reported the bug over a week before Apple took action and disabled group calls. The family’s complaints failed to reach the right people for Apple to take action. Apple has promised it will improve its bug reporting process for its users.

Here’s the full statement Apple provided to ZDNet:

“We have fixed the Group FaceTime security bug on Apple’s servers and we will issue a software update to re-enable the feature for users next week. We thank the Thompson family for reporting the bug. We sincerely apologize to our customers who were affected and all who were concerned about this security issue. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we complete this process.

We want to assure our customers that as soon as our engineering team became aware of the details necessary to reproduce the bug, they quickly disabled Group FaceTime and began work on the fix. We are committed to improving the process by which we receive and escalate these reports, in order to get them to the right people as fast as possible. We take the security of our products extremely seriously and we are committed to continuing to earn the trust Apple customers place in us.”