Apple’s latest iOS update patches 911 DDoS attack exploit

Back in October, an 18-year-old coder published a simple Javascript exploit that caused iPhones to repeatedly dial 911 after a link was tapped, resulting in emergency call centers getting flooded with thousands of bogus calls as people online shared the URL. The The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple’s 10.3 update to iOS this week finally patches that exploit, which was based around an iOS feature where taping on numbers in certain situations would immediately cause the phone to dial them. While the coder was quickly caught and charged with multiple accounts of computer tampering, the exploit had gone unaddressed by Apple until now.

The update apparently solves that problem by now requiring users to confirm though a prompt that they’d actually like to place a call, whereas there were select situations before where that prompt could be bypassed. The Journal also notes that Apple has been working with app developers to ensure that the vulnerability can’t be exploited through third-party apps.