5 ms·

There's something very off about this story, especially since it doesn't even attempt to mention obvious scenarios like "what if I have WiFi turned off?". If i

There's something very off about this story, especially since it doesn't even attempt to mention obvious scenarios like "what if I have WiFi turned off?". If iOS would actually try to find WiFi networks with WiFi turned off, that would be a much bigger story than some exploitable vulnerability. This whole story smells of sensationalism over facts.

fpgeek 11y ago
Not necessarily. Android has an option (which is on by default) where Wi-Fi off really means off except for location assistance. If iOS has something similar and the issue even affects that passive scanning, it could be a deeper problem. I wouldn't say that's likely, but it is possible.
- ryanmonroe 11y ago
  I don't actually know how iOS deals with this, but judging by the fact that iOS says "turning on wifi will improve location accuracy" when wifi is off makes me think it's really off for all purposes.
- Nutomic 11y ago
  Do you have any source for this? I'm pretty sure wifi needs to be on for location assistance (Google Maps complains about this all the time).
  - partiallogic 11y ago
    http://imgur.com/fIFCLNi http://imgur.com/fIFCLNi From 4.3 you can have Wifi "off" but still allow location through WiFi.
    - yekim 11y ago
      Just wanted to say thanks for posting this. I wasn't aware that this was the case on Android. I've now turned my WiFi "completely" off.
    - piyush_soni 11y ago
      But it always asks about doing that while setting up the phone.
Kesty 11y ago
The fact that they call catastrophic people that are not able to use their iphone speaks about sensationalism. If this lead to a way to grab information from the phoen that would be more damaging, than a simply a denial of use in a delimited area.
HaloZero 11y ago
Pretty sure it relies on iOS connecting to a wifi network, see comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9425926 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9425926

fpgeek 11y ago

Not necessarily. Android has an option (which is on by default) where Wi-Fi off really means off except for location assistance. If iOS has something similar and the issue even affects that passive scanning, it could be a deeper problem. I wouldn't say that's likely, but it is possible.

ryanmonroe 11y ago
I don't actually know how iOS deals with this, but judging by the fact that iOS says "turning on wifi will improve location accuracy" when wifi is off makes me think it's really off for all purposes.
Nutomic 11y ago
Do you have any source for this? I'm pretty sure wifi needs to be on for location assistance (Google Maps complains about this all the time).
- partiallogic 11y ago
  http://imgur.com/fIFCLNi http://imgur.com/fIFCLNi From 4.3 you can have Wifi "off" but still allow location through WiFi.
  - yekim 11y ago
    Just wanted to say thanks for posting this. I wasn't aware that this was the case on Android. I've now turned my WiFi "completely" off.
  - piyush_soni 11y ago
    But it always asks about doing that while setting up the phone.

Kesty 11y ago

The fact that they call catastrophic people that are not able to use their iphone speaks about sensationalism. If this lead to a way to grab information from the phoen that would be more damaging, than a simply a denial of use in a delimited area.

HaloZero 11y ago

Pretty sure it relies on iOS connecting to a wifi network, see comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9425926 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9425926