Apple urges users to update devices as serious security issues could give hackers 'full admin access'

If you don’t want your Apple device getting hacked, make sure you install the latest update.

Apple issued the warning saying that some security flaws could give hackers full admin access to your iPhone, iPad or Mac, allowing them to have complete control over your devices.

Earlier this week the company said it was “aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited” and released two security reports about the issue.

Security experts are now advising users to update affected devices which include the iPhone 6S and later models, several models of the iPad, all iPad Pro models and iPad Air 2 as well as Mac computers running MacOS Monterey.

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Apple’s explanation of the vulnerability means a hacker could get 'full admin access to the device' so that they can 'execute any code as if they are you, the user,' Rachel Tobac, CEO of SocialProof Security told the Associated Press.

She also said that activists or journalists should be particularly attentive to updating their software as they could be targets of sophisticated nation-state spying.

Apple didn’t give any specifics on how many users were vulnerable. It also didn’t specify how the vulnerability was discovered but cited an anonymous researcher.

Commercial spyware companies like Israel’s NSO Group are well known for taking advantage of flaws like this.

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The group exploits the flaw in malware that secretly infects the smartphones of its targets. By doing this they are able to tap into that person’s content and watch what they do in real time.

The NSO Group is now blacklisted by the US commerce department. But its spyware is known to have been used in places including Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

On its website the group says it develops 'cyber intelligence for global security and stability'.

It also added that it 'creates technology that helps government agencies prevent and investigate terrorism and crime to save thousands of lives around the globe'.

The cutting-edge tech company is behind some of the most sophisticated phone hacks ever sold to government agencies.

Security researcher Will Strafach said he had seen no technical analysis of the vulnerabilities that Apple has highlighted.

The company has previously acknowledged similarly serious flaws and, in what Strafach estimated to be perhaps a dozen occasions, noted that it was aware of reports that such security holes had been exploited.

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