I want to share my observations with iPhone owners about the virtual network interface that this device has, and what tasks it solves.
 
 

How it all started

 
And it all started with the fact that conducting a test of Wi-Fi at home through one of the network utilities, which today is a considerable amount in the AppStore (I used a paid version of "Network Analyzer", but there is also , Free provides this information) stumbled upon a strange network interface with a public address.
 
Wiki .
 
 
Unfortunately, when I first checked this address for available ports and discovered the open TCP 506? which is known to be used for SIP, I did not make a screenshot, but at the time of writing this publication it was already covered.
 
 

 
 
Therefore, the right to choose (believe me or not) is yours.
 
 
To make sure that this VPN is picked up directly by the smartphone, and not by any third-party instant messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram and the like), which now generally offer voice and video calls, I was not too lazy and deleted them all, including FaceTime. There were doubts that this is still FaceTime, because when it was removed, the iPhone issued a notification that FaceTime calls will work even after the application is deleted. Then I made some test audio and video calls and checked whether the statistics on the interface changed. The counters remain the same, from which there are two conclusions: either the VPN is not for FaceTime, or the "Network Analyzer" application incorrectly counts the traffic. Personally, I tend to the first.
 
 

More versions of

 
And what if this application is "spyware" and it itself betrayed itself?
 
 
In this case, any other similar network utilities other than the standard Wi-Fi and built-in modem should not define this VPN tunnel. Excellent - delete the "Network Analyzer" and put " Network Tools From Hurricane Electric . By the way about informativeness, the last mentioned utility gives more comprehensive information about the available network interfaces on the iPhone.
 
 

 
 
And again we see the VPN with the address from the pool "DoD Network Information Center" Coincidence? I do not think so.
 
 
Of course, I also rechecked the settings of the built-in VPN client that I do not use. But even there everything looks like harmlessly deactivated.
 
 

Instead of conclusions

 
Thus, personally, I had an opinion that this VPN tunnel is raised directly by the smartphone itself. It remains an open question about what all the same tasks are solved through this virtual protected channel. And I'm not going to make loud statements that the military is using Apple to monitor everyone, but the fact remains that my iPhone (I guess not only my) every time it gets access to the Internet connects to "Signalers of the US Army" and waits for directions .
 
 
And what does your smartphone do when you are sleeping?