Apple released iOS 16.5.1 and iPadOS 16.5.1 to the public yesterday and while it did include bug fixes, it seems that there were some much more important improvements going on under the hood elsewhere, too.
Both iOS 16.5.1 and iPadOS 16.5.1 have their own security fixes that make them well worth downloading as soon as possible, but those with older devices should also update to the latest software as well — iOS 15.7.7 and iPadOS 15.7.7.
According to a Washington Post report, Apple's latest iPhone and iPad software updates fix two security flaws that had been used to hack devices in Russia. It took Russian antivirus outfit Kaspersky Lab to spot the issue and make an announcement three weeks ago, with the company saying that its own employees were impacted.
Security matters
"At the same time as Kaspersky’s initial announcement, Russia’s Federal Security Service, known as the FSB, accused the National Security Agency of being responsible. It did not provide evidence or explain how it reached that conclusion," the Washington Post reports.
As for how the attack worked, it seems that it was as simple as sending a malicious attachment via iMessage. The recipient never actually needed to read the message for the payload to take over, it seems. "Without ever seeing that message, the phone’s user would be infected and the attacker could run code of their choosing," the report adds before noting that restarting the iPhone undid the hack, as did enabling Apple's Lockdown Mode.
Kaspersky says that the attack was capable of issuing 24 commands including extracting passwords from iCloud Keychain as well as monitoring location data.
Security release notes for iOS 16.5.1 and iPadOS 16.5.1 both reference fixes for the same Kaspersky-spotted security flaws as the notes for iOS 15.7.7 and iPadOS 15.7.7.
As always, we'd suggest updating to the latest versions of iOS and iPadOS whenever possible.
Apple is of course hard at work on its next big software releases in the shape of iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, both of which are in developer beta and are expected to ship this fall.
