Connecting to unfamiliar wireless networks is sometimes a necessity especially when you travel, but The Skycure folks have found something pretty annoying for iOS users. What they found is an SSL vulnerability that causes iOS devices to crash and reboot continually as long as the device is on the WiFi network in question. This certificate exists in a wide array of apps so chances are high that if you are connected to a network utilizing this DoS tactic, you will probably be affected. They have 3 remediation suggestions. First, disconnect from the WiFi if you get hit with this thing. Second, update your iOS version to the latest. Third, be wary of unfamiliar free WiFi.
As you can see, there isn’t exactly a ton of time to make configuration changes once it hits you, so your best defense is to just stay away from WiFi you don’t trust. The silver lining here is that a reboot is only an annoyance while you are in that WiFi area and less harmful than many types of malware/virus/attack activity. This story serves as a reminder that public WiFi is controlled by the person who configures the hot spot, and not everyone is benevolent as we would like them to be. This story also serves to show that operating system updates do have a purpose and I would not be surprised to see a new iOS version that puts this specific issue to rest in the near future.
