Bug may expose data to hackers
Just hours after a computer chip flaw exposed majority of smartphones, computers, cloud storage, tablets and laptops to malicious activities, Apple today admitted that all of its iPhones, iPads and computers have been affected by the processor flaw, which could leave it vulnerable to hackers.
In a statement on its website, Apple said all Mac and iOS devices were affected by both Meltdown and Spectre. But the most recent operating system updates for Mac computers, Apple TVs, iPhones and iPads protect users against the Meltdown attack and do not slow down the devices, it added, and Meltdown does not affect the Apple Watch.
Apple further said they will soon be releasing a patch for the Safari web browser on its iPhones, iPads and Macs “in the coming days”.
Two bugs – Meltdown and Spectre – have been identified which could now leak your sensitive data like passwords, photos, business documents to hackers thanks to ‘design flaws’ in their manufacture.
While Meltdown is specific to Intel chips, Spectre affects chips from Intel, AMD and Arm. Meltdown lets hackers bypass the hardware barrier between applications run by users and the computer’s memory, potentially letting hackers read a computer’s memory. It was first discovered by Project Zero in June last year.
According to the BBC, Meltdown affects laptops, desktop computers and internet servers with Intel chips. Meanwhile, Spectre affects some chips in smartphones, tablets and computers powered by Intel, ARM and AMD.
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