Apple plans to patch a bug that could have left more than half a billion iPhones and Ipads vulnerable to hackers.
ZecOps, a San Francisco-based mobile security forensics service, found the flaw, which also occurs on iPads while investigating a sophisticated cyber-attack against a client that occurred in late 2019. Zuk Avraham, chief executive of ZecOps, said he found evidence that in at least six cybersecurity break-ins, the vulnerability had been exploited.
An Apple spokesman admitted that there is a flaw in Apple’s iPhone and iPad email application and that the company has created a patch that will be rolled out in a forthcoming update on millions of devices it’s sold globally.
Avraham said he found evidence that the flaw in Apple’s mobile operating system iOS had been abused by a malicious program as far back as January 2018.
Avraham said victims would be sent an entirely blank email address via the Mail app, causing a crash and a reset, subsequently executing the hack. The crash opened a door for hackers to steal additional device data, such as pictures and contact information.
