Apple Alerts Users to Security Flaws in iPhones, iPads, Macs

Nearly all of Apple’s slew of products has been affected by two security vulnerabilities brought [...]

Nearly all of Apple's slew of products has been affected by two security vulnerabilities brought to light by researchers this week.

The potentially serious security threats — dubbed Spectre and Meltdown — were discovered by researchers employed by Google as two ways hackers could steal sensitive information on any computing device or operating system.

The two vulnerabilities are based on the way processors run applications in a predictive format, which may allow them to tap into your stored memory to snatch browsing history, passwords and more, all of which are traditionally stored to help your device run faster.

Apple admitted in a statement Friday that "all Mac systems and iOS devices are affected," which includes the company's iPhone, iPad, iMac, and Apple TVs; an update confirmed Apple Watch products have not been affected.

The tech giant argued that there are no known cases of hackers actually exploiting these threats to obtain private information, but it is taking necessary security measures to protect its devices from the both issues.

Apple released patched versions of iOS 11.2, macOS 13.2 and tvOS 11.2 to defend against Meltdown and plans to roll out mitigations in Safari to fight Spectre's vulnerability in the coming days.

Additionally, it reminded customers to uphold safe practices to ensure they are protecting themselves against potential threats.

"Since exploiting many of these issues requires a malicious app to be loaded on your Mac or iOS device, we recommend downloading software only from trusted sources such as the App Store," the company said.

Apple isn't the only tech mogul scrambling to patch security issues in its software following the release of Spectre and Meltdown's research. Microsoft and Google have also been updating their device software and cloud computing providers like Amazon have been working to fill potential holes in its security defenses.

The threat comes on the heels of Apple's admission that the company purposely slows its devices as they age, which is now at the center of a class-action lawsuit.

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