According to the report, a security researcher created firmware dumps and eventually discovered the microcontroller could be reflashed after a few hours and the destruction of several tags.
Stack Smashing, a German security researcher, said that he was able to “hack into the AirTag’s microcontroller” and modify elements of the item tracker software.
AppleAAirTag is a small iPhone accessory that works with Apple’s Find My app to help keep track of and find the things that matter the most.
According to AppleInsider, the latest AirTags have become a priority for security researchers because Apple is known for having high levels of security built into its products.
According to the report, the security researcher created firmware dumps and eventually discovered the microcontroller could be reflashed after a few hours and the destruction of several tags.
In other words, the researcher demonstrated that it is possible to modify the microcontroller’s programming and thus its behaviour.
An AirTag with a modified NFC URL was seen in an initial demonstration, which when scanned with an iPhone displays a custom URL instead of the usual “found.apple.com” link.
Although the research is still in its early stages, it shows that hacking AirTag requires a lot of know-how and effort in the first place.
The modified AirTag is shown connected to cables in a demonstration video, which are believed to provide only power to the device.
Given that AirTag’s Lost Mode relies on the secure Find My network, it’s likely that Apple will launch some form of server-side protection against maliciously modified versions, according to the report.
AirTag had a hidden debug mode since its launch, providing developers with much more information about the device’s hardware than users would usually need.