Apple Releases Update to Fix Critical Wi-Fi Vulnerability

All Apple owners should be careful, as their devices might have a vulnerability which leaves them available for hackers to attack. This vulnerability is present mostly among iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers. Fortunately, Apple wants to keep its users safe, and has just released an update to fix these issues.

• Many Apple devices had a critical vulnerability and were exposed to attacks.
• Hackers could access the devices through Wi-Fi, and make them execute arbitrary code.
• Apple released an update to fix the problem.

The vulnerability in question is called Broadpwn. This leaves devices unprotected, and hackers might access them and make them execute random code. Devices are left exposed by their Wi-Fi chips from Broadcom, which are to be found in their processors.

The first to discover the bug was security researcher Nitay Artenstein, who works at Exodus Intelligence. This vulnerability was also assessed by the National Vulnerability Database, which rates its level of exposure. On the security scale, it scored 9.8 out of 10. This means its level is critical.

Artenstein spent a long time studying Broadpwn, to see how it works and how users can get protected against it. What is more worrying is the fact that hackers can operate it remotely, without no significant action performed by the users. Apart from Apple devices, other smartphone brands are likely to be affected by the same vulnerability. These brands include Nexus, LG, or HTC.

Apple acted immediately to solve the issue, and released a special patch. It is dubbed 10.3.3 on iOS, and 10.12.6 on Sierra. If you are not sure if the update was performed automatically, you go and check its status in Settings for iOS, and on the App Store for macOS. From there, you can install the update manually and receive protection against hackers.
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