Tech giant, Apple recently disclosed severe security flaws for iPhones, iPads, and Macs that could potentially allow attackers to take complete control of these devices. Apple released two security reports about the security flaw on Wednesday. Apple’s explanation of the security flaw means a hacker could get “full admin access” to the device. That would enable intruders to impersonate the device’s owner and subsequently run any software in their name, said Rachel Tobac, CEO of SocialProof Security.
Apple Strongly Advises the Users to Update Their Devices to Patch the Security Flaw
Security experts have advised users to update affected devices — the iPhone6S and later models; several models of the iPad, including the 5th generation and later, all iPad Pro models and the iPad Air 2; and Mac computers running macOS Monterey. The security flaw also affects some iPod models. Apple did not say in the reports how, where, or by whom the security flaw was discovered. Commercial spyware companies such as Israel’s NSO Group are known for identifying and taking advantage of such flaws, exploiting them in malware that surreptitiously infects targets’ smartphones, siphons their contents, and surveils the targets in real-time.
Israel’s NSO Group Has Been Backlisted by the US Commerce Department
NSO Group has been blacklisted by the U.S. Commerce Department. Its spyware is known to have been used in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America against journalists, dissidents, and human rights activists. Security researcher Will Strafach said he had seen no technical analysis of the security flaw that Apple has just patched. The company has previously acknowledged similarly serious flaws and, on what Strafach estimated to be perhaps a dozen occasions, has noted that it was aware of reports that such security holes had been exploited.
Read more: Maryland’s Apple Store Forms the First Recognized Union of the Company
