Weird bluetooth attack on iPhones

Diabetes Technology
1

I had something really weird happen while at the movies the other day. We were in the lobby, ready with our purchased tickets loaded on my husband’s iPhone, when his phone bricked–couldn’t quit out of the Regal Movie app, couldn’t restart his phone, nothing. Then others with iPhones also had the same thing happening (about 20 people, maybe). Android phones were unaffected. I pulled out my iPhone, which has the Dexcom G6 app… same thing. He went outside the theater to see if it made a difference. Nope.

So in order to get our tickets for seating, a Regal employee printed out paper tickets for us. After about 5 minutes or so, the phones were back.

We obsessed over this for a few hours after, trying to figure out what was going on. We thought maybe it was the Regal app, but it didn’t explain why my phone was affected (I don’t use that app).

We now believe somebody in the theater, probably in the lobby, had a device called a Fipper Zero that messed with people’s iPhones via Bluetooth. It’s likely the person may have been leaving the theater after seeing a movie and still had the device running. Part of me thinks, “Well, that’s one way to stop people from constantly texting with their bright screens during a movie” but hey, thanks a lot for shutting my Dexcom off, pal.

Anyway, here’s a link that explains how the thing works. Apple still hasn’t fixed it. And, oh yeah, through our research we learned that helium can also shut down iPhones.

2

Thanks for the heads up! I wonder if one can use a Flipper Zero to disable another Flipper Zero? If this ever happens to me, I will start recording video and say very loudly, something like, “Will the person with the Flipper Zero please stop. It is preventing my medical equipment from functioning properly.”

Cell and BT are FCC authorized spectrums. It is very illegal to interfere or block it. Might be worth reporting to the FCC. It’s intermittent so they probably can’t do anything about. But they might like to know.

The Flipper Zero is legal to purchase in the US, but using it to jam signals is not. At all.

3

interesting. P.S. That’s why I revert back to MI and old fashioned BG machine during computer security conventions. You should report that incident to your local FBI office.