It's probably a flipper zero. There is a Bluetooth iOS spamming script which can cause the devices to freeze or crash.
I liked the first comment there:
> "According to an APS statement, 'by turning off those teenagers' phones, the student created a dangerous environment in which students might actually have been able to learn something instead of staring at their phones all day. We're just not equipped to handle that kind of thing, so we called the police instead.'"
"nearby" + plaform specificity? This screams Bluetooth.
Side note: iOS's BT stack has a handful of oddly specific requirements for peripherals. It wouldn't surprise me that those requirements precipitate from... cough design oversights.
If that kid (and their parents consent) is on HN I’d like to buy them a soda and see about hiring them as an intern.
we’re both in the DC area and I have a few interesting robotics projects for aspiring hackers
Oh no my phone turned off. Someone call the police.
This reminds me of a time back in high school when a friend bought a cell jammer on ebay and we walked around school just waiting for people to start texting before turning it on and losing our heads at their confusion. Stupid to do, but bored high schoolers do stupid things…
The article isn't very specific, but I would speculate that the iPhone for someone somewhat high up in the school was affected.
"Victims" really.
I remember in school doing the old "net send /domain blahahahhahaaa" and eventually making a crude BAT script that autoran when you inserted a CD to spew line after line of corny middleschooler copypasta.
Maybe it was a blessing in disguise, all those highschoolers would be much better off without a smartphone while in school (barring emergencies) and perhaps outside of school too.
Wow Must be embarrassing for school if a student is doing their job for them.
Brings back high school memories when we used to shutdown peoples mIRC client with a special message that you could send as a personal message to them.
I don't know it anymore but I remember it started with a whole bunch of aaaaaaa, but also included other characters. The beauty is the attack left no trace at all, so they never knew what hit them.
Interfering with radio (phone) signals seems to be one of those perhaps unexpectedly serious crimes especially for how easy it seems to be even by accident.
If only other similar service rights were given the same protection. Like the constant data leaks/thefts.
Probably a Flipper Zero. I saw someone do this with one recently. Even before that, I wanted one. It is a pocket sized software defined radio for sub-gigzhertz signals. It can record and play back RF signals.
Does this work if bluetooth is off? Like off-off (since Appl has off for ___ hrs-on and off-off
Reminds me of the classic iPhone MEMS oscillator helium issue [0]. Not sure a backpack-portable tank would contain enough helium to cause problems though, even in an enclosed classroom; the bluetooth possibilities are probably more plausible.
Reminds me of the Effective Power bug [1] from 2015 though that didn't require special hardware.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpringBoard#%22effective_power...
Ah yes, classic case of someone being arrested for the crime of doing something the police think only they should be allowed to do.
Probably someone tired of the blue and green bubble BS on iPhones.
> phone turns off
> victims
I'll just be a Flipper Zero with a new Firmware - https://github.com/Flipper-XFW/Xtreme-Firmware Maybe something else but this is the easiest/most obvious.
I don't really understand why this is mainstream news. It's happened before, because it's harmless and funny - https://www.kktv.com/2023/11/30/device-brought-tennessee-hig...
In a world where the loser Doomers think China/Aliens can cripple us with a cyberattack this is exactly what is needed more to make people harden their phones, aka run updates.
Wild guess: A handheld EMP generator. You can make them out of a battery and an ignition coil.
Before any gets inspired by this and tries to use an F0 for assorted hijinks like this, just make sure you understand the legal framework in your country. In the UK where I am for example, this is almost certainly “deliberate interference with wireless telegraphy” which can carry a 2 year prison sentence. Not saying that the law isn’t an ass, just that you might want to know what you’re getting yourself into before you do the prank.
See https://www.ofcom.org.uk/spectrum/rules