Turning Off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in iOS 11's Control Center Doesn’t Actually Turn Off Wi-Fi or Bluetooth

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Richard Forno <rforno () infowarrior org>
> Date: September 20, 2017 at 3:29:11 PM EDT
> To: Infowarrior List <infowarrior () attrition org>
> Cc: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
> Subject: Turning Off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in iOS 11's Control Center Doesn’t Actually Turn Off Wi-Fi or Bluetooth
>
> Turning Off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in iOS 11's Control Center Doesn’t Actually Turn Off Wi-Fi or Bluetooth
>
> https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/evpz7a/turn-off-wi-fi-and-bluetooth-apple-ios-11
>
> And it’s a feature, not a bug.
>
> Turning off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi when you're not using them on your smartphone has long been standard, common sense, 
> advice. Unfortunately, with the iPhone's new operating system iOS 11, turning them off is not as easy as it used to 
> be.
>
> Now, when you toggle Bluetooth and Wi-Fi off from the iPhone's Control Center—the somewhat confusing menu that 
> appears when you swipe up from the bottom of the phone—it actually doesn't completely turn them off. While that might 
> sound like a bug, that's actually what Apple intended in the new operating system. But security researchers warn that 
> users might not realize this and, as a consequence, could leave Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on without noticing.
>
> "It is stupid," Collin Mulliner, a security researcher who's studied Bluetooth for years, told Motherboard in a 
> Twitter chat. "It is not clear for the user."
>
> To be clear, and to be fair, this behavior is exactly what Apple wants. In its own documentation, the company says 
> that "in iOS 11 and later, when you toggle the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth buttons in Control Center, your device will 
> immediately disconnect from Wi-Fi and Bluetooth accessories. Both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth will continue to be available." 
> That is because Apple wants the iPhone to be able to continue using AirDrop, AirPlay, Apple Pencil,  Apple Watch, 
> Location Services, and other features, according to the documentation.
>
> Motherboard tested this behavior on an iPhone with iOS 11 installed and verified that Bluetooth and Wi-Fi remain on 
> in the settings after turning them off in the Control Center, as some users have started to notice.
>
> Andrea Barisani, a security researcher and one of the first people to notice this change, said in a Twitter direct 
> message that the new user interface is not obvious at all and makes the user experience more "uncomfortable."
>
> Turning off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi reduces your exposure to potential attacks to hardware, firmware and software, so 
> "it's good practice," Barisani told me. Just last week, security researchers revealed the existence of a series of 
> bugs in the way some operating systems implemented Bluetooth that allowed hackers to take over victim's devices as 
> long as the Bluetooth was on—without needing to trick the user into clicking a malicious link or do anything at all.
>
> It's worth mentioning that both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi will become active again when you toggle them off in the Control 
> Center at 5 AM local time, according to Apple's documentation. It's unclear why that is, but just so you know.
>
> Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
>
> The takeaway is that if you want to really and completely turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on iOS11 you can't do it from 
> the Control Center anymore, you'll have to do it through the Settings app.



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