Apple security patch means it’s time to update your devices

A new set of security fixes from Apple is “recommended for all users”, which means that for anyone with an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch, it’s probably time to update.

According to Apple, the patch will fix a security bug that left WebKit – the engine that powers Apple’s Safari browser – vulnerable to memory corruption. Once users visit a web page containing the malicious code, the vulnerability could be exploited by attackers, who could then gain access to the affected device and write malicious code to it.

If security patches are applied, iPhone and iPad users be update to iOS and iPadOS 14.4.1, watchOS users would be updated to version 7.3.2 and macOS Big Sur would be updated to version 11.2.3.

Although reported by Google and Microsoft, the bugs do not appear to have been actively exploited – unlike the three separate zero-day security holes. discovered in January. The previous three bugs had been “actively exploited,” Apple reported at the time, by hackers who found a way to chain the three vulnerabilities together in order to access the underlying iPhone software.

Apple users can secure their devices by going to System Preferences, and then clicking on Update the software to check if there is one available.