I want one of these flipper devices but I’m sure I would get in a lot of trouble with it
Why is this a thing?
Which one: the Flipper Zero, or the bluetooth spamming function?
Flipper Zero is a thing because it’s a very capable device for hackers and tinkerers. It can be used as an intro to coding and pen-testing.
The bluetooth spam is a thing because some dev is an asshole.
Normal devs? Probably, like another commenter said, like anywhere else.
Flipper script writers? Probably a slightly higher ratio.
You don’t need a laptop to do that, there’s a WiFi Dev Board for the Flipper.
I wonder if I could get work to buy me one and claim that I’ll use it for pen testing.
My coworkers would 100% definitely plug it in if they saw it lying around just to see what it was. They’re real bad.
You should probably keep your wifi and bluetooth set to switch off automatically anyway, what with how much they’re used for tracking.
Doesn’t work if you have Bluetooth devices on all the time (like a smartwatch or earbuds).
I don’t know if turning off Bluetooth protects against flipper attacks (Edit: Nah.), but unless something has changed, it (sadly) doesn’t preserve your privacy.
It’s not really documented, as far as I can tell, but Bluetooth low energy stays on, even when you toggle Bluetooth off for both iOS and Android. As of iOS 15, even turning off iPhones means the phone is still trackable. (Unsure about Android on that front.) Apple’s ‘Find my’ network uses Bluetooth low energy, same as Bluetooth beacons.
That sounds like disabling Bluetooth on iphones doesn’t disable Bluetooth LE. Sucks for iPhone users.
I mean, it sucks for everyone that can’t or don’t want to run homebrew OS’s.
The “One” link I shared above indicates the behavior became standard in Android 8 and iOS 11. They were released in August and September 2017, respectively.
Keep your BT off unless actively using it?
I almost always use it. For my smart band, PC notifications, wireless Android auto…
Ok, well I’m not going to stop using my fitness band or Android auto because I’m a paranoid person. Might as well never leave your home and never use any devices connected to the internet.
Looks like that’s an ineffective approach.
I commented elsewhere with an explanation and a bit of speculation. I did later confirm that even ‘disabling’ Bluetooth doesn’t stop the attack.
The attack method works even when Bluetooth has been disabled using airplane mode from the control panel, which may surprise you. In which case, you’ll be shocked to discover that disabling Bluetooth this way, erm, doesn’t. Instead, you’d need to disable it directly from your device settings or run your iPhone in Lockdown Mode to prevent these advertising pop-ups from being received.
Source
Assuming similar on Android, it’s possible, but not that easy toggle everyone knows about.
