Apple on Lukas Panni's Blog

Demystifying Apple’s BLE Magic: A Journey into FindMy – Part 3

Wed, 14 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Welcome back to our ongoing journey into the fascinating realm of Apple’s BLE-powered services! In our previous posts, we’ve explored the foundational concepts of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and delved into the intricacies of Apple’s innovative FindMy service. Today, we’re going to take a closer look at the darker side of FindMy: the potential for abuse by malicious actors. There are three distinct categories of abuse we’ll look at today.

Direct Tracking

Imagine a scenario where a small tracker discreetly attaches to a person or object - think someone placing an AirTag in your backpack. With Apple devices nearby creating location reports, an attacker could easily track the movement of the individual or item with the high precision FindMy is known for. This abuse-case poses a significant privacy risk, which is not adequately addressed by Apple’s Unwanted Tracking Detection feature.

Demystifying Apple’s BLE Magic: A Journey into FindMy - Part 2

Sat, 04 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

FindMy: BLE-Powered Location Tracking

We already touched on the very basics of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) in the last post. In this post we’ll look deeper into Apple’s FindMy - a service which you very likely get into contact every single day without even realizing. Ever wondered how the FindMy App can show you where your other devices or even AirTags are? Get ready to learn how Apple uses hundreds of devices to help track and find lost devices.

Demystifying Apple's BLE Magic: A Journey into FindMy - Part 1

Tue, 10 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The Basics

Hey there, fellow techies! Get ready to savor the first installment of our deep dive into Apple’s Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol powering the FindMy service. We’ll also see some ways in which a mischievous actor could exploit these protocols to gain access to private information or render devices inoperable. But first we have to take a closer look at BLE in general.

What’s the Deal with Bluetooth Low Energy?

Alright, let’s start with the basics. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is the tech that allows many devices to talk to each other in a power-efficient and seamless way. BLE is actually an addition to the regular Bluetooth standard developed by the Bluetooth Special interest Group, or SIG, and was introduced as an optional part of the specification in version 4.0 from 2010. The current version from February 2023 is version 5.4, while current Apple devices, like the iPhone 15, support up to version 5.3. Compared to regular Bluetooth, which is good for audio streaming or file transfers but uses a lot of energy, BLE has a low datarate in favor of less power usage. Think of devices like the Apple Watch that need to have a long battery life and only get small data transfers like notifications. BLE is perfect for those quick, periodic data exchanges between devices. This is precisely why Apple relies on BLE for a wide range of functions, whether it’s monitoring your AirPods’ battery life through your iPhone or pinpointing the location of a misplaced backpack with the help of an AirTag.