{"id":176190,"date":"2026-01-10T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/10\/cybersecurity-experts-weigh-in-on-concerns-about-iphone-airplay-settings\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T07:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T12:20:08","slug":"cybersecurity-experts-weigh-in-on-concerns-about-iphone-airplay-settings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/10\/cybersecurity-experts-weigh-in-on-concerns-about-iphone-airplay-settings\/","title":{"rendered":"Cybersecurity Experts Weigh In On Concerns About iPhone Airplay Settings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cybersecurity Experts Weigh In On Concerns About iPhone Airplay Settings<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/entry\/iphone-airplay-settings-concern-goog_n_695fce1be4b05f1e1aabeb04?ncidu003dNEWSSTAND0001<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-01-10 07:00:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: www.huffpost.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Author: <\/a><\/p>\n

Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points. People across the internet have been sounding the alarm about potential security risks connected to an iPhone setting that you may not have noticed. And experts in cybersecurity think it\u2019s worth taking a look. Over the past several weeks, several social media users on TikTok and Instagram have taken to the internet to warn others about the Airplay settings on their iPhones. Last month, one viral TikTok post warned iPhone users to make sure their Airplay settings were not set to \u201cAutomatic.\u201dThis setting can be accessed on an iPhone by going to: Settings > General > Airplay & Continuity > Automatically Airplay. Under \u201cAutomatically Airplay,\u201d Apple offers iPhone users the option to choose between \u201cNever,\u201d \u201cAsk\u201d or \u201cAutomatic.\u201dOrganic Media via Getty ImagesCybersecurity experts weigh in on viral social media posts warning about overlooked Airplay settings in iPhones. The viral post claimed that having \u201cAutomatic\u201d selected makes users more vulnerable to hackers who have the ability get all of the information on their phone \u201cin a matter of seconds\u201d \u2014 as long as the hacker\u2019s phone is right next to the user\u2019s phone. Many people replied to the TikTok post expressing concerns about the setting, with some noting that their Airplay setting was unknowingly set to \u201cAutomatic.\u201d Apple did not immediately return a request for comment. Kevin Tackett, CEO of security consulting company Secure Ideas, told HuffPost that as it relates to concerns about the \u201cAutomatically Airplay\u201d setting, it\u2019s important to note that \u201cany \u2018additional\u2019 connectivity is a risk.\u201d\u201cSo yes having this on when you don\u2019t need it is a bigger issue than not having it on,\u201d he said. But Tackett said that statements that a hacker could simply steal all of an iPhone user\u2019s information because they had Airplay turned on is \u201can exaggeration.\u201d \u201cThere have been flaws that allowed for additional access, such as the Airborne flaw from last year, that would give access through further exploitation, but simply having the setting on does not give the attacker this level of access,\u201d he said.Tackett was referencing a collection of bugs and vulnerabilities that researchers discovered with Apple and devices that support Airplay last year. Apple told Wired last April it had collaborated with researchers to address the issues and to push out security updates. Dave Chronister, CEO of Parameter Security, told HuffPost that while vulnerabilities with Apple and Airplay devices were addressed last year, the concerns highlighted why \u201cautomatic connections, while convenient, can be a very bad idea.\u201d\u201cIf I as a hacker wanted to exploit this, I could set up a device that would broadcast AirPlay. If a vulnerable system connects, I can send the exploit code, and without any user interaction, their device would be compromised,\u201d he said. \u201cDepending on the vulnerability, it may also give me access to almost anything on the device. Any device that is set to accept airplay from \u2018the same network\u2019 or \u2018everyone\u2019 could be at risk.\u201dSo, here\u2019s what experts want you to do about some of the connectivity settings on your iPhone. It\u2019s important to first understand how software updates factor into security concerns with your iPhone. Chronister emphasized that while most updates fix security issues, like last year\u2019s AirPlay vulnerabilities, iOS updates can change certain settings to \u201cAutomatic.\u201d Airplay is a \u201cnetwork protocol and can be vulnerable to a weakness known as a \u2018worm,\u2019\u201d he explained.\u201cWhile that same update ensures that you are patched for AirBorne vulnerabilities, it has now set up a situation where a future worm is discovered in AirPlay,\u201d he said. \u201cNow all the systems that are set to automatic become especially vulnerable to future exploitation.\u201dHe added, \u201cIt is important to understand that automatic enablement of settings and services is something that most operating systems companies do to showcase new features. It is the classic war between functionality and security.\u201dTackett said that for years Apple has pushed updates, \u201cwhich reset the configurations to the defaults which are less secure than the settings the user has had.\u201dHe said those in the cybersecurity community have long been warning users that they need to check their phone\u2019s privacy and security settings after every update.\u201cOf course, we have also been yelling at Apple and other vendors to stop doing this,\u201d he said. \u201cIt makes zero security sense to reset these configurations. The only reason that Apple and others do it is to make their support easier for new features.\u201dTackett said that overall, it\u2019s best to turn off any setting you don\u2019t need. \u201cConnectivity is dangerous to some level, no matter the type of connectivity,\u201d he said. \u201cSo if you aren\u2019t using it, turn it off. If you are using it, turn on only the aspects you need.\u201dAnd when it comes to Airplay, Tackett recommends that if you want to use the feature, then set it to \u201cAsk.\u201d \u201cThat way you have the feature, but it is more secure than the default,\u201d he said. Chronister advises that it\u2019s a good practice to keep an eye on your phone\u2019s connectivity settings. \u201cIf you do not use a protocol like AirPlay, turn it off. For Bluetooth and WiFi, make sure you know and trust the networks and devices you are connecting to,\u201d he said. The original version of this story was published on HuffPost at an earlier date.
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Cybersecurity Experts Weigh In On Concerns About iPhone Airplay Settings https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/entry\/iphone-airplay-settings-concern-goog_n_695fce1be4b05f1e1aabeb04?ncidu003dNEWSSTAND0001 Publish Date: 2026-01-10 07:00:00…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":176191,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img.huffingtonpost.com\/asset\/695c54a22b00003d386835e9.jpeg?cache=QbTn3Tny0B&ops=500_281%2Cscalefit_1200_630","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[24,31,35,27],"class_list":["post-176190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cybersecurity","tag-cybersecurity","tag-exploit","tag-hacker","tag-vulnerability"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176190"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176190"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176192,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176190\/revisions\/176192"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}