I'm surprised they got any text messages! When I'm at Defcon (and I was there this year), I have a burner phone (usually a $15 flip phone) and a burner laptop with me. I go far away from the show before I'd turn my phone on.
The Tech Community in the US generally only cares about "bikeshedding" issues that are easy to have strong opinions on and don't really matter. Like making sure your language is "inclusive", or things like the "Ada Initiative" so women can attend PyCons without hearing the word "dongle" being used in private conversations.
2. These weren't drivers. Did you read the article?
3. The larger share of the blame belongs to Apple. Why does Apple trust devices like this that are essentially independent computers? Why should anything this chip does be able to take over the phone and install software on it, in privileged mode, that replicates itself?
You completely misunderstand my point. I'm a card-carrying NRA member, but I wince when I hear someone notice that a anti-2nd-amendment zealot mixes up terms like "magazine" and "cartridge" and thinks "Aha! I've won this argument because you don't know what these basic terms mean." It really doesn't help convince people on the other side to consider another point of view.
Right. The Mac Zealots will say "These aren't viruses! They're unwanted programs purposefully installed by the user who thought he was updating Acrobat." But it's like a 2nd amendment advocate trying to win an argument by pointing out that word "Assault Rifle" is meaningless. It may be true, but it's not a way to argue.
I'm a 50-something and my Mom with her Mac manages to get infected with browser-based malware. And she's pretty careful. But sometimes those "update" notifications look real to her.