The Serious Reason Why Apple Pushed Out An Emergency iPhone Update
This article is more than 2 years old
Sneaky Apple. It turns out there was a serious bug in the iPhone that caused major issues. Update iOS 16.1.2 rolled out in November, causing confusion among users as to what the rush was. Apple is no stranger to drama and intrigue, and the newest issues feature its airtags that can be used to stalk people and privacy not being so, well, private.
Apple’s high-risk, high-reward strategy has always paid off, as it is the most valuable company in the world. The iPhone was the mobile phone that made cell phones sexy. Apple saw that texting could be so much easier than having to scroll through multiple numbers and made emojis the hottest thing since eggplant Parmesan.
This is the company that made technology accessible, useful, and highly designed. In fact, Apple’s newest foray into VR has put the brand a bit behind Meta when it comes to immersive tech. Apple’s VR headset will finally launch this upcoming year to awaiting hands.
However, will the recent news as to why Apple needed a patch prior to a planned update, put Apple even further behind and have investors running scared? According to Macworld, the security patch was needed because hackers did have the ability to extract certain arbitrary code on your Mac.
Oh, ok, that’s all?
Apple did admit that hackers have exploited the flaw in an earlier version of the platform. What’s more, this is the tenth zero-day vulnerability that occurred in 2022. A zero-day vulnerability is one that was previously unknown to vendors.
Apple has many reasons to make sure its privacy practices are up to code. Soon, third-party apps will be allowed on the Apple app store. This will put users at risk for harmful attacks and leaked data.
The issue was found by Clément Lecigne of Google’s Threat Analysis Group. The Threat Analysis Group (TAG) is what Google uses to stop government-backed attacks. The group finds, then publishes its findings on its blog. The group is agnostic of the company or software maker and works to thwart hacker attempts that are sometimes dangerous to users and many more.
Although Apple is quite successful and has a large target on its back, it’s not the only software maker that has rapid users. Spotify, a music software company, is up there with Apple Music and has attracted millions of users.
Spotify has recently gone viral, as it does near the end of each year, with its Spotify Wrapped campaign that shows users an in-depth view of their listening habits. Apple does that same thing with its Apple Music Replay mix.
Through data, both Spotify and Apple can show a person’s “cool factor” by creating shareable images that are used on social media. So you can tell if you really want to be friends with the person who listened to 3,465 hours of Gregorian chants, or not.
Regardless, Apple has patched its recent flaw, and we can all rest easy, but always remember to follow best practices when it comes to behaving online. Good online behavior is not just for today’s teenagers to follow, it’s for everyone.
