According to new research, the number of weaknesses discovered and exploited within Apple’s ecosystem increased dramatically in the second half of 2021.
According to a research from Atlas VPN, fraudsters found and exploited a total of 380 new vulnerabilities across Apple’s software options in the second half of 2021, up 467 percent from the first half of the year.
Many of the flaws affect Safari, the company’s online browser, as well as the operating system (OS) itself. “Because all Apple software is interchangeable and connected,” the researchers explain, “one disclosed vulnerability can typically affect all devices.”
CVE-2021-30858, which has a severity rating of 8.8, is one of the most dangerous vulnerabilities for Apple devices, according to the report. It affects iPhones and iPads running iOS 14.8, as well as Macs running macOS Large Sur 11.6.
The issue allows threat actors to run arbitrary code, which means they may install malware or ransomware on the target machine, among other things (for instance, knowledge exfiltration or login credentials theft).
The experts believe that cybercriminals’ growing relationship with Apple is due to the company’s growing reputation:
“Billions of people throughout the world use products made by tech behemoths like Apple and Google. According to Vilius Kardelis, a cybersecurity author at Atlas VPN, “these renders billions of clients vulnerable to attacks uncovered by cybercriminals.” “In order to avoid such threats and keep your devices secure, people should always update their software to the most recent version.”
However, in terms of raw statistics, it’s Google and Microsoft that have had the most vulnerabilities exploited in the second half of the year. Google discovered a total of 511 flaws, the majority of which were found in Android and the Chrome browser.
To read our blog on “Apple’s massive iPhone blunder cause a new security warning for 1 billion customers,” click here.
