Apple warns of security vulnerability that lets hackers into iPhones, Macs
Apple technology giant on Friday revealed serious security vulnerability to the iPhone, iPad and Mac which has the potential to allow attackers to take full control over this device. The company said “Knowing the report that this problem might have been actively exploited”, CNN has reported. Users can learn how to update the software by following the instructions given on the Apple website.
Apple directs its users to update their software after vulnerability is found in its operating system. Apple does not reveal whether there is information about the extent to which this problem has been exploited. Apple released two security reports about this problem on Wednesday, although they did not get extensive attention outside of technological publications.
Security experts have advised users to update the affected devices – the iphones6 model and then; Some iPad models, including the 5th generation and then, all iPad Pro and iPad Air 2 models; and Mac computers running Macos Monterey. It also affects several iPod models.
Apple’s explanation of vulnerability means that hackers can get “full admin access to the device” so that they can “run any code as if they are you, users,” said Rachel Tobac, CEO of Socialproof Security.
Those who must be very vigilant to update their software are “people in the eyes of the public” such as activists or journalists who might be the target of sophisticated state spies, Tobac said. Vulnerability also extends to the Mac computer that runs the company’s Monterey OS and the Apple Safari browser on the Big Sur and Catalina operating systems, the company said in the next update.
Commercial spyware companies such as the Israeli NSO Group are known for identifying and taking advantage of these deficiencies, exploiting them in malware that secretly infect the target smartphone, suck their contents and supervise targets in real time. NSO Group has been blacklisted by the Department of Trade U.S. The spyware is known to have been used in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America against journalists, dissidents and human rights activists.
Security researchers will Strafach said he did not see the technical analysis of the vulnerability that Apple had just patched. The company had previously recognized the same serious weaknesses and, in what Strafach estimated maybe a dozen opportunities, had noted that they knew the report that such security holes had been exploited.
