An Apple update a day keeps the hacker away.
Apple has released the iOS 18.3 system update along with a warning to install it immediately because it erases vulnerabilities that are being exploited by cybercriminals.
“This update brings improvements to visual intelligence along with other enhancements, bug fixes and security updates for your iPhone,” Apple advertises in the installation prompt.
These security updates reportedly include more than 20 patches to digital Achilles’ heels that compromised prior iterations of IOS, per the Daily Mail. These safeguards prevent “locked apps from being bypassed” and “other fixes that are designed to provide a more secure web browsing experience,” Michael Covington, VP of strategy at security outfit Jamf, told Forbes.
This is perhaps essential given the scope of impacted utilities, which include “AirPlay, Kernel, Safari, Passkeys, Accessibility and more,” said Sylvain Cortes, VP of Strategy at Hackuity.
One of the major security flaws they addressed affected CoreMedia, which allows apps to play audio and video files.
This glitch could’ve potentially allowed cyber attackers to hijack users’ sensitive data via a fake app masquerading as a multimedia player, according to Cortes.
Meanwhile, another bug in Passkeys could allow bad actors to hijack Bluetooth while one glitch leaves Webkit, the engine behind the Safari browser, vulnerable to hackers executing operating system commands, Forbes reported.
It’s yet unclear how rampant this corruption was, but “versions of iOS before iOS 17.2” may have been affected, per the Apple PSA.
“To safeguard against these threats, we’d strongly recommend users to promptly update their devices to iOS 18.3,” cautioned Covington.
Failing to do so could leave users susceptible to “unauthorized data access, financial loss, and erosion of user privacy,” per Cortes. “These vulnerabilities could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code, access sensitive or confidential information and compromise the security of both personal and corporate data,” he declared.
To install the iOS 18.3 update, users simply go to iPhone Settings > Software Update and download the operating system, which is compatible with the iPhone XS and later and a variety of iPads.
Along with this digital shield, the iOS 18.3 update also includes some nifty new features such as Apple Intelligence — an AI motherboard of sorts that activates by default.
This function is intended to enhance the user experience by providing personalized, smart assistance across various apps and functions, ranging from ChatGPT’s integration with Siri to AI writing tools.
However, this tool has — perhaps somewhat ironically given iOS 18.3’s purported safeguards — drawn scrutiny from security experts over its ability to access sensitive personal information.
