Holmdel Teen Helped Apple With A Bug. Then He Fixed Another One

Giyas Umarov's mom was just sitting at home when one of her kids came in to say his older brother got recognized for fixing an Apple bug.

She laughed it off at first.

"Very funny," she remembers saying. "He was 14, I couldn't believe that."

But her son wasn't kidding - the Holmdel High School student had indeed helped the tech giant improve their security by reporting a flaw within their system. He was credited by Apple in a document describing the updates to iOS 14.0 and iPadOS 14.0 in September 2020.

"We would like to acknowledge Giyas Umarov of Holmdel High School for their assistance," it reads.

Fast-forward to this week and, once again, Umarov is being recognized by the company for yet another bug he reported, this time regarding the app iTunes U which is used for remote learning.

Umarov explained that the bug he found would allow other websites not run by Apple to make the app to whatever they wanted.

The Holmdel teen said that he received a call a while ago from Gov. Phil Murphy.

"He just called in to say congratulations," Umarov said. "He talked about maybe we might meet each other one day."

Still, the teen seems almost unphased by his own accomplishments, having taught himself how to code by using the internet, checking out library books and eventually asking his parents for a book as a Christmas present.

"He never went to any coding class. He said 'no mom, this is a waste of money.' He asked for the book as a gift for Christmas," said his mom Dilek Umarov.

She remembers her own excitement when she realized he had actually fixed a bug for a major company. His response was modest.

"Mom, it's just like I fixed a bug. Mom, it's nothing," he insisted.

Before reporting the first bug, Umarov decided to have some fun with his three younger siblings and mom and dad. That particular bug made it so that hackers could jam someone's phone with pop-ups when they opened a QR code.

Because that could be done without inserting the passcode, Umarov decided to mess with his family's phones for a while.

Years before, when his mother tried to limit his phone access, Umarov easily got around the parental controls she set simply by following the instructions of a Youtube video.

After many attempts, they compromised: She would give up trying as long as Umarov promised he wouldn't help his younger siblings do the same thing.

"His grades are perfect, he is a very good student," his mom said.

When he is not at school or behind a screen, Umarov likes to ride his bike and play tennis.

He is not too sure what he wants to be when he grows up but says a career in computer science is definitely a possibility.