One of the reasons many people buy the best iPhones over Android phones is because Apple positions its smartphones as more secure and better suited for privacy. In fact, the iPhone maker even called the best Android phones "giant tracking devices" in 2013.

While we rarely see malicious apps or malware on iOS, there is a new threat that iPhone owners must be wary of.

As reported by Ars Technica, security researcher Jeroen van der Ham was recently on a train in the Netherlands when his iPhone was suddenly filled with pop-ups that made using the device quite difficult. To make matters worse, after these pop-ups, his iPhone restarted on its own. Van der Ham tried putting his iPhone in lockdown mode, but that did not stop the loop of pop-ups and restarts.

Eventually, van der Ham realized that his iPhone was in trouble not because of hackers or cybercriminals, but because of another passenger on the train. Just as another security researcher had sent an unsolicited message to a vulnerable iPhone at this year's Def Con hacking conference, that passenger had launched a similar attack.

But instead of creating a custom gadget to accomplish this feat, they actually used an off-the-shelf hacking device that is starting to become a real thorn in the side of both iPhone and Android users: the Flipper Zero.[Flipper According to the description on the Devices website, the Flipper Zero is "a portable multi-tool in a toy-like body for pen testers and geeks. Basically, it can interact with all kinds of wireless signals, including RFID, FNC, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.

Flipper Zero was first released in 2020, and has so far been used primarily for low-level tasks such as cloning hotel key cards, opening and closing garage doors, reading RFID chips embedded in pets, and changing TV channels in public. In recent months, however, this hacking tool has gained several new features and capabilities that allow it to launch attacks such as those described above.

This is done by loading Flipper Xtreme custom firmware onto the Flipper Zero, which Van der Ham was able to download from the Discord channel about the Flipper Zero. Once this firmware is installed, anyone with a Flipper Zero can continue to send messages to nearby Bluetooth low energy (BLE) devices. However, there is another setting in the Flipper Xtreme firmware called "iOS 17 attack."

If you are in the middle of doing something important or need to access your phone in an emergency, this kind of unwanted Bluetooth pairing request message is not only annoying, but potentially dangerous.

Apple is undoubtedly aware that this type of attack is taking place, but has yet to release a fix, even with the recently released iOS 17.2 update. However, there is a workaround, although it is not very ideal for Apple Watch and AirPod owners.

To prevent this type of attack from rendering the iPhone unusable, Bluetooth must be turned off.

It is also worth noting that, as with Wi-Fi on the iPhone, this must be done from the Settings menu, not from the Control Center. In fact, TechCrunch found in its own testing that these notifications do not appear when the Bluetooth iOS control center is turned off.

Losing Bluetooth functionality may be a deal-breaker for some iPhone users, but we assure you that Apple is now looking into a fix for this issue. However, it remains to be seen if the Flipper Zero will be banned anytime soon.