State. India issues harsh warnings for Apple devices like iPhone, iPad that may be hacked – Technology News, Firstpost

Mehul DasMay 23, 2022 10:39:01 IST

Security researchers have identified a number of serious vulnerabilities in some very popular Apple products that could allow hackers to take control of their devices and use the data obtained from these devices for rather heinous actions.

The Indian Computer Rapid Response Team (CERT-In), which is central cybersecurity Agency for India, warned of some serious vulnerabilities in the Apple Watch, some versions of the Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Given the boom of smart watches and fitness trackers in India, as well as the number of people who have chosen the Apple Watch, the device is likely to be the most targeted.

CERT-In warned of many vulnerabilities in the Mac operating system, and these vulnerabilities were classified as “critical”, which is the most serious rating in the language of cybersecurity.

“A number of vulnerabilities have been reported in Apple Mac OS that could be exploited by a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code, circumvent security restrictions, and cause a denial of service to target the target system,” the statement said.

This means that a hacker can run any command or code of their choice on the target device after gaining control of the device through a vulnerability.

Apple has released patches for both vulnerabilities that can be fixed by downloading the latest product updates. However, an even more serious matter is that, according to Apple, these vulnerabilities may have already been exploited by hackers.

“Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited,” Apple said in a statement on the two vulnerabilities on its official website.

Apple devices with iOS and iPadOS versions up to 15.5 received high marks. macOS Catalina before security update 2022-004, macOS Big Sur versions up to 11.6.6 and macOS Monterey versions up to 12.4 were rated as critically serious.

As for the Apple Watch, any device with watchOS versions to watchOS 8.6 is very serious. Users who use older versions of these OSes should upgrade their devices as soon as possible. If updating your device is not an option, the least you can do is delete all sensitive and critical data from those devices.

People in the cybersecurity community have an unwritten rule that every time a researcher finds a vulnerability in a product, they first notify the manufacturer and give them enough time to fix it before publishing their study. This is done so that vendors can fix these issues and release updated software fixes for vulnerabilities.

Given how often we store a lot of personal data and vital information, such as our PAN and Aadhar data, as well as our credentials in banking and social networks, on our smartphones, these vulnerabilities can wreak havoc in a person’s life when a hacker gains access.