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A shocking flaw in Apple's FaceTime software that allows its users to eavesdrop on others while a call is still ringing was recently discovered by a 14-year-old teen who was trying to get his friends together for a Fortnite session.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Grant Thompson, from Tucson, was "setting up a FaceTime chat with friends head of a Fortnite videogame-playing session when he stumbled on the bug."
That's the moment when Thompson noticed that he could hear audio from others who had yet to join the call. Grant told his mother, Michele, right away, and the two spent a week trying to contact Apple to report to them the issue.
The WSJ reports that after some calls and faxes, they "eventually traded a few emails" with Apple's security team, but the decision to disable Group Facetime wasn't made until reports of the bug went viral on Twitter.
The bug works by dialing another user, then swiping up and entering the originating number via the "Add Person" screen before it's answered. FaceTime is apparently tricked into believing that a Group FaceTime conference call is happening, transmitting audio from the recipient's device even if they didn't accept the call.
This bug has been a security nightmare for Apple.
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