Published: September 24, 2023 on our newsletter Security Fraud News & Alerts Newsletter.
Sometimes, if you’re like me, you feel like all these updates that come at us are a bit like a Chicken Little situation. There are a lot of them, and it seems like they happen constantly and if we don’t apply them, the sky will fall. Sometimes, there are updates that fix a bug that has a workaround or that add a new neat feature. But other times, like the one that was recently released for iOS, is not one of those. It actually is a critical update and if you don’t apply it, the sky won’t fall, but your device may very well be compromised.
This update, number 16.6.1, fixes a couple of serious issues with iOS that may already be actively exploited. One is with the Wallet app. According to Apple, a maliciously crafted attachment could result in your data being stolen. The second issue is within the framework and involves the image formats on the device. Same story with what could happen if this is exploited. In fact, some researchers say it already has happened.
But if you think this is all just a scare tactic, consider this. Apple thought this update was so important, it didn’t bother to wait until it’s major annual update of 17.0. It is coming out very, very soon. By that, I mean, it was just released for some devices.
When 17.0 is released for you, it’ll have some new features, like stickers available in iMessage and the ability to skip the “Hey,” when asking for Siri. It’ll even have better multi-factor authentication (MFA) for your email and browsing. What it won’t have is the fixes for these two issues. Please don’t wait for 17.0. Apply 16.6.1 right now.
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