Here's Why You Should Update Your iPhone ASAP To Keep Your Phone Secure
On Tuesday, Jan. 26, Apple announced it was rolling out its latest operating system update for iPhone and iPad in an effort to address security vulnerabilities that "may have been actively exploited," according to the company's security document published on Tuesday. In light of a report from the company about three security bugs, you might be wondering if you should update your iPhone to iOS 14.4. Here's why you should do so ASAP.
In a security content document shared on Jan. 26, Apple appeared to admit that hackers might have been trying to actively gain access to some users' devices although the company did not confirm who was targeted by this, if it was successful, or if it was a widespread issue.
Unfortunately, details about the nature of the security flaws, which were alerted to the company by "an anonymous researcher" are sparse. Apple does not comment on security concerns, and in the report, the company said, "For our customers' protection, Apple doesn't disclose, discuss, or confirm security issues until an investigation has occurred and patches or releases are available."
However, the company did say additional details will be "available soon."
According to the report, both the Kernel — a computer program that controls the core of the operating system — and the WebKit — a browser engine which powers the Safari browser, Mail, App Store, and other applications — were impacted.
"A malicious application may be able to elevate privileges," the report said about Kernel, while Apple admitted that "a remote attacker may be able to cause arbitrary code execution" for WebKit. For both, it said that "Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited."
The document says the update is available for "iPhone 6s and later, iPad Air 2 and later, iPad mini 4 and later, and 7th generation iPod touch," so if you can do so, it's better to be safe than sorry and update your device ASAP. To do so for your iPhone or iPad, you'll want to open up Settings and then go to General, followed by the Software Update. If you don't have automatic updates enabled, you can then tap the Download and Install button.
According to the fine print, iOsS14.4 also fixes issues with the Fitness widget not displaying updated Activity data, makes it easier for your camera to recognize smaller QR codes, and fixes issues with the keyboard and typing, making it a good idea to update your iPhone or iPad as soon as possible even without the security concerns
