Has anyone had privacy issues on iPhone?

If you feel an unauthorized person/app is remotely using, controlling or monitoring your device, then that is possible only if you have done one or more of the following Don'ts...

1. Don't hand over an iPhone to kids or to a stranger without Enabling Guided Access
2. Don't share Apple IDs
3. Don't Jailbreak
4. Don't share sensitive information pertaining to your device
5. Don't give in to Phishing
6. Don't plug in your device in Airports and Public places through third-party cables and trust the device. Beware of Juice Jacking. (Especially in India)
7. Don't leave your iPhone unlocked and unattended in public places like offices, schools, malls, etc.

If one of the above is true then quickly change the Apple ID Password and Return iPhone settings to their defaults.

Keep the iPhone updated to the latest iOS always and never Jailbreak. That's it.

iOS / iPadOS devices cannot be hacked or infected with Virus / Malware / Spyware *** unless you have intentionally downloaded spurious software or unauthorized apps directly from the internet and installed them on your device or/and have Jailbroken. 

It (Hacking) also depends on how careful you are in sharing sensitive and valuable information pertaining to your iPhone such as Passcode, Password, etc with your friends and family members.

Be judicious when sharing the device's sensitive and valuable information with friends and family members.

**The primary reason for this is Sandboxing. All third-party apps are “sandboxed”, so they are restricted from accessing files stored by other apps or from making changes to the device. Sandboxing is designed to prevent apps from gathering or modifying information stored by other apps.

Security of runtime process in iOS and iPadOS - Apple Support

The sandbox on an iPhone is a security feature that creates a restricted environment for each app to run in isolation from other apps and the operating system. It is a core component of iOS's security architecture and plays a crucial role in making iPhones more secure.

If you doubt the authenticity of the information provided earlier, you have two alternatives:

1. Report the hacking incident to local law enforcement authorities and actively pursue the case.
2. Accept the credibility of the information; it is impervious to hacking. Just as some individuals hold unconventional beliefs, such as a flat Earth or moon landing denial, one has the freedom to believe in anything. The choice ultimately rests with you in this open and free world.

I guess contacting the authorities is the answer. If someone is listening to your phone calls it is a wire tap on your cell provider, not from an app on your phone or through remote access. The Password is the most likely cause for your other concerns and it should be reset. While you may not think anyone knows it, if you ever used it to sign into a website, then there is always that potential for a data breach. In addition cellular providers including Verizon have had data breaches where customer data has been exposed.

https://firewalltimes.com/verizon-data-breaches/

Yeah same issue and, I did notice when I downloaded a certain app to keep track of my up I have a forced stay awake time. Then when I schedule an appointment guess what that’s the only time my device starts to wind down. My ip is duplicated and the cell provider says they cannot do anything either. I also when I contact customer service it’s always the same 2 people no matter time of day or nite. I have always preferred android but figured I’d give I phone a try and yet I can detect that a “Developer” is making money on the side or something cause every log I review and research says that a SuperUser so to speak has to have long credentials to do this kinda stuff that’s going on with my phone. I’m ready to go back to a pager and landline. I almost feel as if these bigger companies know and have known about this stuff awhile now and truly it seems as if they enable it to a certain extent. Prolly not but, it does feel as if sometimes.

When using cellular data the IP address is provided by your cellular company and is dynamic so it changes depending on the cell tower you are connected to and when using WiFi, the IP address is a private address provided by your router. Any outside network only sees your router IP address that is assigned by your internet provider. Your phone does not have a fixed IP address.

If you are attempting to decipher log files, you are simply going down a rabbit hole. There is no useful information that can be gained from the log files and they are only useful when requested by Apple Engineers after a support ticket has been opened. They have specialized decoding software to interpret the results depending on the issue you are having.

When viewing log files, many users have been caught off guard when they see terms such as Roots Installed, Pegasus, Remote Access and jump to the conclusion that something nefarious is going on, when actually that is exactly what the Engineer wanted the logs to print. There is a famous log file that contains the phrase "Goodnight, Gracie" where users thought they were being hacked by someone name Gracie. Engineers are also funny people where there are these logs:

• localhost com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.cmio.AVCAssistant): ThrottleInterval set to zero. You're not that important. Ignoring.
• localhost com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.diskmanagementd): The TimeOut key is no longer respected. It never did anything anyway.

iPhone can absolutely be targeted, and malware for iPhone exists. iPhone is just too valuable a target.

Such tools and related exploits are, however, rare, and their usage has been targeted. This based on available reports.

And yes, these tools do seek to bypass the sandbox, and other security defenses. For examples of some of these exploits that have been reported, CVE-2023-41064 and CVE-2023-41061, etc. The JBIG2 (CVE-2021-30860) exploit was exceedingly clever, as well. CVE-2023-32434, CVE-2023-32435, CVE-2023-38606, and CVE-2023-41990, as well. There are others. All of these have reportedly been used to target specific people and specific groups.

Here, you’re effectively self-reporting a value of multiple millions of dollars of tooling to target, with the compromise reported here apparently extending into the cellular network whether that involves complete access or access into your voicemail. This puts you well outside of the sort of forensics and technical assistance and security suggestions that can be offered around here, or via most any forum.

You’ll need specialized help with what is being reported, and that help can be tailored to your particular situation, your potential adversaries, and your whole approach to your apparent value as a target of some very well-funded adversaries. That can mean reducing or removing or better isolating risky devices from common use for instance, and switching to hardware security tokens (Apple calls these security keys), among other responses. That is inherently going to be specialized and technical help. Which isn’t feasible via forum.

All that written, most folks aren’t worth that investment, and aren’t targeted. Or there are credentials compromises, or gaslighting, or there are other and entirely non-IT issues arising.

vee299 wrote:

Thank you so much for sharing.. and yes, I definitely agree with you .. I miss my landline and pagers.. all this technology for this ?? To have to privacy?? NO THANK YOU

They still sell pagers and that is definitely an option and of course many including me still have a landline phone. Nothing wrong with going that route.

vee299 wrote:

Thank you so much for sharing.. and yes, I definitely agree with you .. I miss my landline and pagers.. all this technology for this ?? To have to privacy?? NO THANK YOU

Alas, neither pagers nor landlines are secure against the sorts of adversaries y’all are worried about here.