Following the discovery of two critical security flaws, Apple released urgent updates for millions of iPhone and iPad users. The company also informed that the latest update for iOS 16, called iOS 16.5.1 was urgently required to protect against two vulnerabilities that hackers were aware of and knew how to exploit.
One of the bugs involved in the security breach requires a “malicious attachment” sent through iMessage, this allowed hackers and cybercriminals to gain access to an iPhone’s audio recording, photos, and location data. Experts informed that the security flaw, dubbed as TriangleDB has already been exploited by the hackers under a campaign called Operation Triangulation, which was targeted towards the employees of the cyber firm Kaspersky.
The firm informed earlier this month via a blog post that, “The deployment of the spyware is completely hidden and requires no action from the user, the spyware then quietly transmits private user information to remote servers: microphone recordings, photos from instant messengers, geolocation, and data about a number of other activities of the owner of the infected device.”
The second bug affected Apple’s browser engine WebKit, which leaves users exposed to arbitrary code execution. This security breach could cause malicious third parties to steal data or hack into an iOS device.
Both these bugs can cause serious privacy threats to all Apple devices such as iPhone, iPad, and Mac users, causing the company to take prompt action as it has now released urgent updates for all these devices. Apple also introduces new updates for Apple Watch which includes new features for the device.
Apple released iOS 17 during the WWDC event with exciting features. A full public release of the new iOS version is scheduled to launch in September along with a new iPhone.
Source: Apple Support Page
