Urgent warning issued to iPhone users to delete apps after company hit with 'biggest hack in history'

Millions of iPhone users are being warned to delete any apps not downloaded by the official Apple App Store.

It comes after the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange revealed it had lost billions in what is being described as the 'biggest hack in history'.

The company, called Binance, issued the warning to any iPhone users whose devices iOS 26 and iOS 27, claiming a flaw in these versions of Apple's software called 'worse_query' can let harmful apps secretly look at private information stored by other apps on the same phone.

Although the flaw in itself is not believed to be malware, it does create a weakness for anyone using an iPhone which might have a malicious app downloaded onto it.

Apps downloaded from outside Apple's official App Store can pose a greater security risk, as they don't necessarily undergo the same level of scrutiny as those approved by the tech giant.

Binance says it was victim to the 'biggest hack in history' (Getty Stock)

This can leave unsuspecting iPhone owners vulnerable to cybercriminals looking for a way into their devices.

Binance warned that hackers could exploit the 'worse_query' vulnerability by targeting iPhones running compromised software, potentially gaining access to users' accounts or even draining their cryptocurrency wallets.

The company shared the warning on Tuesday, just days after suffering a staggering $6.3 billion loss in a cyberattack linked to North Korea. However, Binance stressed that the newly identified security threat is separate from that incident and could put anyone storing cryptocurrency on an iPhone at risk.

Anyone using an affected version of iOS has been advised to install the latest operating system update as soon as possible. Binance also recommended creating an entirely new crypto wallet if there's reason to believe a device may have already been compromised.

Binance said the 'worse_query' vulnerability had been identified on devices running iOS 26.7.1, iOS 27.0.1 and iOS 27.2.

However, an independent software researcher who goes by the name Taj suggested on coding platform GitHub that the security issue could be much more widespread, potentially impacting almost every release of iOS 26, from version 26.0 through to 26.7.2.

iPhone users with certain software updates may vulnerable (Getty Stock)

Under normal circumstances, Apple's operating system keeps apps isolated from one another, meaning they cannot access each other's private data or files.

But the newly discovered vulnerability could allow malicious software to bypass those protections entirely.

This means an infected app could potentially access sensitive information held by other applications on the same iPhone, including private messages, photographs, documents and saved login details.

Cybercriminals could reportedly use the loophole to secretly view, copy or even tamper with files belonging to other apps, with cryptocurrency wallets among the potential targets.

For anyone who stores digital currency on their iPhone, this could have particularly serious consequences, as wallet files may contain recovery phrases or private security keys that provide access to their funds.

Should hackers get their hands on this information, they could potentially steal someone's cryptocurrency or take control of their account altogether.

Apple did not immediately respond for comment regarding the alleged flaw.