Alert! Your iPhones, iPads are under new threat, get free iOS 16.2 update NOW!

Hackers usually have a very tough time when trying to crack through iPhones and iPads. Apple's devices have gained a reputation for being secure. However, a recent discovery of certain vulnerabilities has put your iPhone and iPad at risk. Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has revealed that it has discovered vulnerabilities in iOS and iPadOS which could give attackers access to sensitive information which could lead to data theft, or worse.

CERT-In issued a high-risk advisory stating that the vulnerability, termed as “'CIAD-2022-0032" affects firmware prior to iOS 16.2 and iPadOS prior to 16.2. The cybersecurity watchdog also released a list of affected devices which included Apple iPhone 8 and later, all iPad Pro models, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 5th generation and later and iPad mini 5th generation and later. It also affects all iPhones on iOS prior to 15.7.2. Since most of the legacy iPhones including iPhone 6S, iPhone 7 and iPhone SE support iOS 15, this puts millions of devices around the world at an extremely high risk.

The vulnerabilities are present in various components of the iOS and iPad OS such as AppleMobileFileIntegrity, CoreServices, GPU Drivers, Graphics Driver, Photos, Preferences, Software Update, iTunes Store and more. According to the official release, “Multiple vulnerabilities have been reported in Apple iOS and iPadOS which could allow a remote attacker to gain access to sensitive information, execute arbitrary code, spoof the UI, gain elevated privileges, bypass security restrictions or cause denial of service conditions on the targeted system.”

“Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow the attacker to gain access to sensitive information, execute arbitrary code, spoof the UI, gain elevated privileges, bypass security restrictions or cause denial of service conditions on the targeted system,” it further said.

What can iPhone, iPad users do?

CERT-In has warned users that the vulnerabilities are already being exploited in the wild by hackers. Users are advised to apply software patches urgently. Apple regularly pushes out updates bringing new features to the public as well as improving its security restrictions and patch vulnerabilities. Therefore, if you're on the same firmware as revealed above, you should immediately update your iPhone or iPad to the latest software version. 

For iPhones, the latest software version is iOS 16.2, whereas iPad owners can update their devices to iPadOS 16.2.