elsiegee40 Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 (edited) Just had mobile bill for son's iPhone. He's exceeded his data usage and landed a bill for £158, but I'm not sure it's his fault. Having analysed the usage, I'm seeing the same pattern every night around 10pm (when I know he's in bed and asleep) of load of 1Meg and 0.5Meg GPRS records. It feels like a worm? He's turned data off on his phone, so there's zero usage, but can anyone suggest what to use to scan this phone to check it... and how to prevent it future please? Edited January 10, 2012 by elsiegee40
Domino Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 blat it, then re-add the apps he actually uses and see what happens? 1
elsiegee40 Posted January 10, 2012 Author Posted January 10, 2012 blat it, then re-add the apps he actually uses and see what happens? Yes. That's probably the best option. He's not a happy bunny. It's on my card and the rule from day one is that any over-shot on the bill is paid for by him... so he's got to come up with £158.... that'll teach him. Is AV an option on iPhones? or is it still a too new.
Domino Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 I think apple still claim it's not needed? there are a couple from a quick google though, intego? If it's a rogue app though it might not pick it up - maybe it'll just be a lesson to check what he's installing a bit better
mac_shinobi Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 settings --> Location services --> Camera --> Slide Off Otherwise Each photo that is taken will most likely contain and use the GPS location data which if you are out and about and don't have access to wifi will most likely use Edge or 3G to obtain this info ?? I would just flatten it to factory defaults and only put back the apps he requires, I would run anti malware / anti virus scans on said computer before re setting it up again. You can disable location services for other items in there as well, I normally enable airplane ( aeroplane ) mode on my iPhone before I go to bed so it can't communicate with anything ( which saves on battery ) and means no one can call me whilst I am trying to sleep 1
elsiegee40 Posted January 10, 2012 Author Posted January 10, 2012 It seems to have gone pear-shaped on December 18th... the day he downloaded an app recommended on the gadget show. I agree it's a lesson for him... and he's been lucky it wasn't that expensive.
mac_shinobi Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 It seems to have gone pear-shaped on December 18th... the day he downloaded an app recommended on the gadget show. I agree it's a lesson for him... and he's been lucky it wasn't that expensive. Which app was that ? I would also as something you can try is get him to call said provider whether it is 02 / orange or whoever and if his bill gets to a certain amount that they contact him or disable network service ( excluding him calling the free number so he can talk to someone ) If it is defo that one app then maybe remove it
elsiegee40 Posted January 10, 2012 Author Posted January 10, 2012 The app he downloaded that day was onavo - data compression. Can't say it was definitely that, but it seems suspicious that it was the only thing he downloaded that day. Phone is now wiped. Malware scan in progress on computer.
featured_spectre Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 Onavo did a press release back in october saying it may charge for every MB of compressed data it does, so perhaps its that?
elsiegee40 Posted January 10, 2012 Author Posted January 10, 2012 Onavo did a press release back in october saying it may charge for every MB of compressed data it does, so perhaps its that? I don't think so, there are masses of successive GPRS connections all for 1000, 1001 or 500 kBy that start when the phone is otherwise quiet. The only benefactor is his mobile provider
FN-GM Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 Does he have the personal hotspot enabled? That feature will allow users to connect the iPhone and use it as a wifi hot spot. Maybe he has it enabled without a password and someone on the street is using it?
elsiegee40 Posted January 10, 2012 Author Posted January 10, 2012 (edited) I don't think it is hotspot... not from where the phone is when the use is happening. Now the phone has been wiped we'll do controlled release of apps back on to it and monitor closely what happens. As things go back on it. Hopefully whatever it was has now disappeared. I'm not convinced it's Onavo, but I'm sure there'll turn out to be some free trial app he downloaded and forgot about. Edited January 10, 2012 by elsiegee40
FN-GM Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 Also is it properly close the apps when he has finished? Maybe there was loads running in the background all eating into usage.
elsiegee40 Posted January 11, 2012 Author Posted January 11, 2012 Could be anything. He's had the phone for nearly a year and this has is drastically different to every other month's usage. Vigilance is the key... and after this I think he'll be vigilant!
RabbieBurns Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 How old is he? Maybe he has just discovered you can get naughty pictures on the internet and that he's not really 'asleep'
Arthur Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 It feels like a worm? I think you are overthinking this. The most likely culprit is an app which downloads data in the background e.g. When e-mail is set to "push" your device is constantly checking for new e-mails and downloading them automatically. Change your settings to "manual" and get e-mails only when you want them. (Source) Does he use any of these apps? http://i.imgur.com/4ruZZ.png I think Apple still claim it's not needed? It isn't. App Store apps can only read and write to the file system within their own sandbox. They can’t examine other apps, nor the data of other apps. There will never be third-party antivirus software in the App Store so long as the sandboxing rules remain in place. And so long as the sandboxing rules remain in place, there shouldn’t need to be. We can argue about whether you should run anti-malware software on your Mac. But it can’t even exist on non-jailbroken iOS devices. (Source)
mac_shinobi Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 I think you are overthinking this. The most likely culprit is an app which downloads data in the background e.g. Does he use any of these apps? http://i.imgur.com/4ruZZ.png It isn't. I have an iPhone 4 on a sim only plan with 500 mb data, 300 mins and unlimited texts and I have about a third of those apps ( ebay, facebook, shazam, whats app ) along with other things, I do disable push on the email side and set it to manual My bill has never exceeded my alottment for each month by much ( unless I enter those sms competitions ) like on the gadget show or the likes, even still I have never had a bill for £158 etc I pay about £12 ( give or take a few quid ) per month
jonnykewell1 Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 Another option could be Imessenger, I know I go through tons of messages on there and if him and his mates are messing around pulling faces or whatever it sometimes switches from wifi and sends it as a normal text message if him or the recipient are not connected to wifi or even 3g.I Still think it imessenger is buggy.
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