Paul Morris on September 23, 2015, 10:18 pm

iOS 9 Security Flaw Lets Anyone Bypass The Lock Screen, Here’s How To Protect Your Device

There is undeniably a lot of positives to take from the Apple’s introduction of iOS 9. The plethora of new features and stability improvements alone make the latest and great version of iOS worth downloading and installing on all devices. Then there’s the fact that we still have the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus to come with iOS 9 pre-installed which will serve up additional functionality, such as 3D Touch and Live Photos. There are plenty of reasons to want iOS 9, but, as it turns out, there’s also one fairly large reason to not want iOS 9 on your iPhone or iPad – a serious security flaw that lets individuals bypass the device passcode.

Apple’s own statistics show that more than fifty-percent of users with compatible devices have already taken the decision to upgrade to the latest iOS version, which was released to the public just last week. The introduction of the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus later this week, as well as the iPad Pro later this year will bring that number even higher. Granted, those users will be able to take advantage of everything that’s shiny and new within iOS 9. But they’ll also all be immediately susceptible to a relatively simple hack that negates the user’s passcode on the device, and allows access to anyone in possession of the device.

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One of the definite benefits of iOS 9 is the increased capability of the Siri digital assistant. However, it seems that Siri can now also be used to assist the dark side, as YouTube user videosdebarraquito points out in a video. The security flaw within the new version of Apple’s mobile OS allows an individual to gain access to the device after entering the passcode incorrectly four times. On the fifth attempt – which is the final attempt before iOS locks down the device – the individual can enter only three digits, then hold the Home button to invoke Siri as the fourth digit is being entered – though this has to be done pretty quickly.

Siri can then be given a simple command such as “what is the time?”. The result being that the individual attempting to access the device can tap on the clock option to enter into the native Clock app. The video itself does a fairly good job of showing what is then possible and just what information can be accessed by a person who has no legitimate right to be using the device.

So, how to secure your device from this flaw? Well, you will have to prevent access to Siri from the lock screen.

Head over to Settings > Touch ID & Passcode > Allow access when locked, and make sure the toggle next to Siri is set to off. It’s not an ideal solution, especially if you love the new additions of Siri in iOS 9, but we can only hope that Apple rolls out a fix in the form of an update soon enough.

Apple has yet to officially comment on the situation, but with iOS 9.1 currently in beta it’s likely that we may see a fix for this going live soon.

(Source: YouTube)