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Apple investigated following FaceTime security bug

Published on: 4 Feb 2019

Apple is being investigated by authorities in the US following the discovery earlier this week of a bug in its FaceTime video chat service.

The security flaw, which was first reported on January 28th, allows an individual to 'eavesdrop' on another user via FaceTime by connecting the service's audio and video, even if the recipient rejects the call.

Apple has pledged to work quickly to fix the bug, but this has not stopped the New York Attorney General Letitia James from opening an investigation into the incident.

It comes as several security experts raised concerns about why Apple initially appeared to be slow to respond to reports of the vulnerability.

The Wall Street Journal reported that it was spotted by a mother and son in Arizona, who tried to inform Apple of the flaw more than a week before it became public, but the company failed to respond.

Michelle Thompson told the publication: "I have letters, emails, tweets and msgs. sent to Apple for 10+ days reporting the Group FaceTime bug that lets someone listen in. My teenager discovered it! Never heard back from them."

Image credit: iStockphoto/Georgijevic