Apple Patches Security Glitches in iPhones and iPads: Protection Against Russian Hacking Attacks

On Wednesday, Apple Inc AAPL said it had fixed two new security faults in its iPhones and iPads that helped compromise thousands of devices in Russia.

Apple credited researchers from Russian security software maker Kaspersky Lab for discovering the glitches, the Washington Post reports.

Apple said the fixes would protect iPhones running iOS 15.7 or earlier versions, which became outdated in September. More recent operating system versions had other improvements that made them impervious to the attacks. 

The hackers had targeted Kaspersky Lab senior employees. Russia's Federal Security Service also brought similar charges against the National Security Agency.

Experts suggested that users turn their phones off and on again after regular intervals to keep the hacking attempts at bay. Apple's optional Lockdown Mode also blocked the attacks.

Kaspersky said previously that the attack worked by sending an iMessage with a malicious attachment that helped the hacker run code of their choice by infecting the phone.

On Wednesday, Kaspersky said the malicious code installed after the infection had 24 commands, including extracting passwords from Apple's Keychain, monitoring locations, and modifying or exporting files.

Kaspersky dubbed the attack Triangulation and claimed to have released tools to check the safety status of the devices.

Price Action: AAPL shares traded lower by 0.30% at $183.40 premarket on the last check Thursday.

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