|
San
Francisco-based cybersecurity firm ZecOps on Wednesday detailed
a flaw that it said may have left more than half a billion
iPhones vulnerable to hackers.
Zuk Avraham, ZecOps' chief executive, told Reuters he found
evidence the vulnerability was exploited in at least six
cybersecurity break-ins.
Avraham said he found evidence that an attacker was taking
advantage of the vulnerability as far back as January 2018, but
that he could not determine who the hackers were.
Reuters was unable to independently verify his claim.
Apple on Wednesday acknowledged the vulnerability existed in its
software for email on iPhones and iPads, known as the Mail app,
and said the company had developed a fix that will be introduced
in a forthcoming update to millions of devices it has sold
globally.
On Thursday, Apple disputed Avraham's evidence that the hack had
been used against users.
"We have thoroughly investigated the researcher's report and,
based on the information provided, have concluded these issues
do not pose an immediate risk to our users," Apple said in a
statement. "The researcher identified three issues in Mail, but
alone they are insufficient to bypass iPhone and iPad security
protections, and we have found no evidence they were used
against customers."
In response to Apple's statement, ZecOps said it found evidence
of related hacks against "a few organizations" and that it would
share additional technical information once Apple released its
software update to the public.
(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco and Christopher
Bing in Washington; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
