If you click on CrashSafari.com your iPhone will crash

[Ashley Sneed]

A link being passed around on Twitter that is wreaking havoc on iPhones.<br>The site, website has been found to do exactly what it says – crash the iPhone default browser Safari, and has been posted with a URL shortener to try and trick people.<br>It attacks the Safari browser by releasing thousands of characters that overload its memory, over heats the phone and then shuts it down completely.<br> The site website has been found to do exactly what it says – crash the iPhone default browser Safari. It attacks the Safari browser by releasing thousands of characters that overload its memory, over heats the phone and eventually shuts it down completely<br>The page includes a header title and a small piece of JavaScript, whiconfirmed the prankster is 22-year-old Matthew Bryant, who lives in San Francisco, California and works in application security.<br>’In my spare time I often test how browsers will handle odd code that gets thrown at them,’ Bryant explained.<br> RELATED ARTICLES

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WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU CLICK ON CRASHSAFARI.COM?  The page includes a header title (which you’ll never actually see because the browser crashes) and a small piece of JavaScript. <br>The JavaScript calls the HTML5 History API thousands of times in a loop, essentially causing Safari to freeze. <br>The memory will overload and the iPhone will overheat, which causes it to shut down completely.<br>Depending on how the website is opened, it will either crash the current app, the Safari browser, or the whole of system. <br>It will reboot on its own and the prank doesn’t have the ability to install malware or pose any security threats. <br>Source: The link is being passed around on Twitter, as users are sharing it in tweets with the hopes their followers would in click it.<br>Twitter has sent out an announcement warning users of the hack, but has said ‘it has no serious threats’.<br>The social media network hopes this will stop the prank from making too many rounds, but the link can be messaged privately – so beware, reported The Chief researcher officer at security firm F-Secure, Mikko Hypponen, first identified the prank and believes it is ‘an identical site at crashchrome.com actually exploit browsers’ history feature to kill them on command’.<br>’The problem is that it creates thousands of history entries,’ Hypponen told Wired, citing a thread in a Chrome developer’s forum where the bug was reported in 2014.<br>’It takes longer to maintain the list than it takes new entries to come in.'<br> Wired confirmed the prankster is 22-year-old Matthew Bryant, who lives in San Francisco, California and works in application security. Apple is working on fixing the issue in future updates, but there is no rush because the system isn’t damaged or poses a security risk<br>’It becomes too much, and it tanks.'<br>Mac, Windows and Androids are also seeing a problem if they click on the link.<br>Although the system doesn’t completely shut down, the browser will become sluggish and force users to close it.<br>Seeing you iPhone screen go black then reboot is enough for anyone to panic, but this prank isn’t programmed to install malware on devices.<br>According to 9TO5Mac, the hack has been reported to work on the latest versions of Apple’s operating system, iOS 9.2.1 and OS X 10.11.3 and some of the beta seeds.<br>Apple is working on fixing the issue in future updates, but there is no rush because the system isn’t damaged or poses a security risk.<br><br>
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Read more:

Watch out for this new URL that will crash your iPhone and Mac Safari if you click it | 9to5Mac
PSA: A Link That Crashes Safari Is Being Passed Around On Social Media | TechCrunch
Hack Brief: Don’t Be Trolled by This iPhone-Crashing Link Meme | WIRED

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