Could my Apple Watch series 9 be hacked?

There was a problem with the latest update that affected some people and the watch seems to randomly enter passcodes

Reboot the watch

Anyone who has a locked watch as a result: should Put Apple Watch on its charger.

Press and hold the side button until you see the screen with the power button in the upper-right corner, then let go of the side button. If your Apple Watch has an earlier version of watchOS, you see the Power Off slider instead of the power button.

Press and hold the Digital Crown until you see the red Reset button.

Tap Reset, then tap Reset again to confirm.

After Apple Watch unpairs completely, you can pair again. Remember that you'll need the Apple ID and password that were used to set up the watch.

I experienced the same issue on my apple watch series 9 on 3/14/2024, thought it was hacked by someone. I really hope someone could offer some explanations.

Hacked, no. Either this was a momentary glitch in the software which forced restart are designed to help clear up, or it was experiencing false/ghost touch issues.

Did you do a forced restart? Hold down the side button and the Digital Crown at the same time until the Apple logo appears.

The same thing happened to me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6dazJk9AtU

Date of Incident: February 6, 2024, at 18:36 CST

Device: Apple Watch Series 9

Issue Description:

I am writing to report a significant security concern that recently occurred with my Apple Watch Series 9. I experienced a disturbing incident where my device appeared to be remotely controlled by an unauthorized external party. This unauthorized access and control persisted until the device was manually powered down. The incident has raised serious concerns regarding the security and privacy of my personal data stored on or accessible through the device.

Evidence and Documentation:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6dazJk9AtU

I possess a recording of the incident, which unequivocally demonstrates the manipulation of my device by an external entity. This documentation should provide valuable insights into the nature of the breach, potentially aiding in identifying the method of unauthorized access.

Same thing happened with my Ultra 2 today. Quite a few posts about this in the last few days

Something is definitely up! I swore I was being hacked. My Ultra 2 is connected to my home security system. The alarm set, front door unlocked and garage door randomly opened. I was understandably freaked out. I logged into the security system and reset everything there. Shortly after, I supposedly “loved” a message in a group chat and my watch made a random call to the US Post Office. Then the random attempts at passcodes began. Needless to say, when I was finally able to shut my watch off, I reset it, along with all of my Apple passwords and codes. It would be nice of Apple to respond to what appears to be a widespread issue.

Total overreaction:

watchOS 10.4 includes new features, improvements and bug fixes, including:

• Tap to Show Full Notification setting now allows you to double-tap to expand the notification
• Using Apple Pay with Confirm with AssistiveTouch will require a passcode for additional security and will not support double-clicking the side button
• Resolves an issue that causes some users to experience false touches on the display
• Fixes an issue that prevents contacts from syncing to Apple Watch for some users

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website: Apple security releases - Apple Support

That does not “unequivocally demonstrate manipulation by an external source.” However, this might be useful information for the developers so they can finish creating and releasing an update to fix whatever software issue that caused this. Send this to Product Feedback - Apple

There was a problem with the latest update that affected some people and the watch seems to randomly enter passcodes

Reboot the watch

Anyone who has a locked watch as a result: should Put Apple Watch on its charger.

Press and hold the side button until you see the screen with the power button in the upper-right corner, then let go of the side button. If your Apple Watch has an earlier version of watchOS, you see the Power Off slider instead of the power button.

Press and hold the Digital Crown until you see the red Reset button.

Tap Reset, then tap Reset again to confirm.

After Apple Watch unpairs completely, you can pair again. Remember that you'll need the Apple ID and password that were used to set up the watch.

So much for "Best Reply" designation!

Anyone who has a locked watch as a result of not updating the OS should Put Apple Watch on its charger.

Press and hold the side button until you see the screen with the power button in the upper-right corner, then let go of the side button. If your Apple Watch has an earlier version of watchOS, you see the Power Off slider instead of the power button.

Press and hold the Digital Crown until you see the red Reset button.

Tap Reset, then tap Reset again to confirm.

After Apple Watch unpairs completely, you can pair again. Remember that you'll need the Apple ID and password that were used to set up the watch.

yiming257 wrote:

I experienced the same issue on my apple watch series 9 on 3/14/2024, thought it was hacked by someone. I really hope someone could offer some explanations.

Someone did.

This happened to me about a half hour ago. I also immediately tried to rip the watch off my arm and shut it off, since I thought my WiFi was hacked. I did read the whole thread, so I will be able to sleep tonight, but the WiFi is staying off til tomorrow. Good-Night.

They did, with watchOS updates. About watchOS 10 Updates - Apple Support

Apple security releases - Apple Support

Today, my Ultra 2 goofed out as well. it was having random digitizer activity without being touched. my arm was a bit sweaty, andi had a cracked screen protector, so i thought it was moisture under it, so i took it off wiped it, but nothing there, so it kept trying to open apps and it actually sent a random photo to a friend. A Photo that was not even on my phone or watch.

it was sent in Messages... neon purple lips!

see below

then, I took it off and it went into what looked like brute force passcode cracking.. I had to get on chat with my carrier and was advised to reset it. i could not even power it down, see video clip. too much touch activity from nowhere.

I would say there is a glitch, But i can't explain the sent photo. not when its not on my phone and i have never seen it before. and it was a photo, not a sticker or emoji etc..

I could not get it to power down using the watch buttons, my timeout eventually reached an 1 hr before the unpair and restore from last backup.

video clip:

https://youtube.com/shorts/3YDSU2oxeiI?si=GpCxQ_gAI0o-faxs