Apple warns of security flaw

The company said in two reports released Wednesday that hackers could take complete control of users’ devices. Security advisers have recommended that users update their iPhones and other Apple devices to the latest iOS iteration. Apple did not say in the reports how or where the security chinks were discovered or who discovered them—in all cases, it attributed the finding to an anonymous researcher.

Are security flaws like this taken advantage of often? Commercial spyware companies such as the NSO Group from Israel have a history of exploiting these flaws. The U.S. Commerce Department has blacklisted the group, and its spyware has been used across the globe against journalists, human rights advocates, and government dissidents. Apple has acknowledged security flaws like this in the past, and on numerous occasions has said that those flaws were exploited.

Dig deeper: Read Liz Lykins’ report in WORLD magazine about the 7 percent of Americans who don’t use the internet.