A new Cybernews experiment clearly demonstrates that even Apple smartphones are not without the problem of excessive data exchange.
A new study conducted by Cybernews experts showed that the iPhone continues to actively exchange data with external servers, even when it is in idle mode for a long time.
The experiment used a factory-reset iPhone SE with 100 of the most popular apps from the German App Store installed on it. Each outgoing connection to external servers was monitored through the NextDNS service.
In February, Cybernews researchers already conducted a similar experiment with an Android smartphone, the more interesting it will be to compare the data obtained.
So, during the experiment, it turned out that during the five days of downtime, the iPhone sent an impressive 16,542 DNS requests to external servers. This is an average of 3,308 requests per day, or one request every 26 seconds. The peak of activity was observed around 15: 00 GMT, when the number of requests per hour reached from 757 to 1865.
For comparison, an Android smartphone sent only 2,323 DNS requests in the same day, which is 42% less than the iPhone.
Most of the iPhone traffic (about 60%) for the entire time of the study was directed to Apple servers located around the world. Google's servers received 12% of requests, while Microsoft's servers received 4%. Social networks like Facebook and TikTok generated significantly less traffic on the iPhone than on Android. However, the Snapchat messenger consistently sent over 100 DNS queries a day.
Despite having Chinese apps installed, such as Temu, TikTok, Wish, and AliExpress, the iPhone did not interact with servers in China. However, he accessed the Alibaba server in Russia at least once a day, even though the iPhone itself was physically located in Vilnius, Lithuania.
"Any phone connections to unfriendly countries raise concerns due to lax enforcement of data protection and privacy laws," the Cybernews research team commented.
The researchers also stressed that without a detailed analysis of traffic, it is impossible to determine for sure exactly what data is transmitted by applications. For example, malicious programs can use the servers of legitimate services, such as Dropbox or Google Drive, to distribute malware, avoiding suspicious connections and, as a result, detecting malicious behavior.
Experts noted that high network activity in itself is not necessarily a sign of malicious behavior, but recommended that users minimize the number of installed applications to reduce the risk of data leakage.
According to a recent report by Buildfire, on average, users have more than 80 apps on their devices, but don't use a quarter of them after the initial installation. Moreover, even unused applications can pose privacy risks, since they are still able to access personal data, device sensors, and send this information to the Internet.
A new study conducted by Cybernews experts showed that the iPhone continues to actively exchange data with external servers, even when it is in idle mode for a long time.
The experiment used a factory-reset iPhone SE with 100 of the most popular apps from the German App Store installed on it. Each outgoing connection to external servers was monitored through the NextDNS service.
In February, Cybernews researchers already conducted a similar experiment with an Android smartphone, the more interesting it will be to compare the data obtained.
So, during the experiment, it turned out that during the five days of downtime, the iPhone sent an impressive 16,542 DNS requests to external servers. This is an average of 3,308 requests per day, or one request every 26 seconds. The peak of activity was observed around 15: 00 GMT, when the number of requests per hour reached from 757 to 1865.
For comparison, an Android smartphone sent only 2,323 DNS requests in the same day, which is 42% less than the iPhone.
Most of the iPhone traffic (about 60%) for the entire time of the study was directed to Apple servers located around the world. Google's servers received 12% of requests, while Microsoft's servers received 4%. Social networks like Facebook and TikTok generated significantly less traffic on the iPhone than on Android. However, the Snapchat messenger consistently sent over 100 DNS queries a day.
Despite having Chinese apps installed, such as Temu, TikTok, Wish, and AliExpress, the iPhone did not interact with servers in China. However, he accessed the Alibaba server in Russia at least once a day, even though the iPhone itself was physically located in Vilnius, Lithuania.
"Any phone connections to unfriendly countries raise concerns due to lax enforcement of data protection and privacy laws," the Cybernews research team commented.
The researchers also stressed that without a detailed analysis of traffic, it is impossible to determine for sure exactly what data is transmitted by applications. For example, malicious programs can use the servers of legitimate services, such as Dropbox or Google Drive, to distribute malware, avoiding suspicious connections and, as a result, detecting malicious behavior.
Experts noted that high network activity in itself is not necessarily a sign of malicious behavior, but recommended that users minimize the number of installed applications to reduce the risk of data leakage.
According to a recent report by Buildfire, on average, users have more than 80 apps on their devices, but don't use a quarter of them after the initial installation. Moreover, even unused applications can pose privacy risks, since they are still able to access personal data, device sensors, and send this information to the Internet.
