A malicious bug found in an .mp4 file will cause an iOS device to slow down, freeze and become unusable. The video, which has been making its round online, is said to be a corrupt file that affects iOS devices, from iPhones to iPads.
In a report by 9to5Mac, a certain video watched in Safari will cause the device to respond slowly and eventually freeze its activities, rendering the device useless. The video is said to be a corrupted file which causes a "memory leak" which iOS "doesn't know how to handle".
A YouTube channel called EverythingApplePro demonstrated the iOS glitch that happens when playing the video. As the user shows you in the video, this situation happens regardless of the iOS version, even affecting older versions like iOS 5. The only difference is that for iOS 10.2 (beta 3), instead of the device locking up, it will eventually power down.
For users who fall victim to this malicious file, the solution would be to hard reboot the iOS device. Except for the iPhone 7, iPhone devices can be turned off by long-pressing the Power and Home buttons at the same time. iPhone 7 users will need to long-press both Power and Volume buttons down at the same time.
Although it can be an annoyance, users are assured that this bug doesn't pose any security risk to the iOS user. More specifically, it will not make the iOS device divulge personal information or make unauthorized calls. The video creator is yet to be tracked down, and no official word from Apple has been released for now.
In the meantime, technology blogs are spreading the information in hopes to make iOS users aware of the bug and prevent any more inconvenienced iPhone and iPad owners. This is not the first time a video caused problems with an iOS device. In 2008, Italian systems engineer Piergiorgio Zambrini announced a video found within the iOS directory that could crash any iPhone, iPod or Apple computer.
