Apple says that iPhones, iPads, and Macs have a security flaw.
Apple has revealed that iPhones, iPads, and Macs have serious security flaws that could let attackers take full control of these devices.
Apple put out two security reports about the problem on Wednesday, but most people outside of tech publications didn't pay much attention to them.
Apple says that a hacker could get "full admin access" because of the flaw "to the tool.
Rachel Tobac, CEO of SocialProof Security, said that if someone did that, they could pretend to be the owner of the device and then run any software in their name.
Security experts have told people with the iPhone 6S and later models, the iPad 5th generation and later, all iPad Pro models, and the iPad Air 2 to update their devices. The same goes for Mac computers running MacOS Monterey.
Some iPods are also affected by the flaw.
In the reports, Apple did not say how, where, or by whom the flaws were found. In each case, it cited a researcher who didn't give their name.
Spyware companies like Israel's NSO Group are known for finding these flaws and using them to make malware that infects targets' phones without them knowing, steals their data, and keeps an eye on the targets in real time.
The U.S. Commerce Department has put NSO Group on a "black list."
It is known that its spyware has been used against journalists, dissidents, and human rights activists in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.
Will Strafach, a security researcher, said that he had not seen a technical analysis of the bugs that Apple just fixed.
The company has admitted to other serious flaws in the past, and Strafach thinks it has done so maybe a dozen times, saying that it knew of reports that these security holes were being used.