iPhone owners given 'important' advice to check their settings immediately
All Apple users must pay attention and make sure they update all of their devices without delay.
This latest alert has been raised after security experts at Oligo discovered a number of flaws within Apple's AirPlay technology that could allows hackers to infect phones, tablets and laptops with worrying malware. The attack has been branded "AirBorne" and it's not something anyone should ignore.
"The vulnerabilities and the attack vectors they enable have been named "AirBorne" by Oligo Security researchers, as the attacks that they make possible are transmitted via wireless networks or peer–to-peer connections, and allow attackers to fully take over devices and use that access as a launchpad for further exploitation," the Oligo team explained.
For those not aware, Apple's AirPlay system allows content to beamed to speakers and TVs wirelessly using Wi-Fi. However, it appears that this wire-free connectivity has also given cyber crooks a way to infect devices.
Luckily, Apple has now fixed all of the bugs but it's vital that all users make sure their iPhones, iPads and MacBooks are fully updated with the very latest software. "Researchers have discovered a series of major security flaws in Apple AirPlay," Alanna Titterington from Kaspersky explained.
"They've dubbed this family of vulnerabilities – and the potential exploits based on them – "AirBorne". The bugs can be leveraged individually or in combinations to carry out wireless attacks on a wide range of AirPlay-enabled hardware.
"The most important thing you can do to protect yourself from AirBorne attacks is to update all your AirPlay-enabled devices." To make sure you are fully up to date, simply head to your Settings, then tap General and Software Update.
Your device will show what downloads are impending or if your device is running the latest software. Although this latest attack sounds worrying you will be safe if you have the latest updates from Apple. It's also worth noting that a hack can only take place if the cyber crook is on the same Wi-Fi network which makes it very unlikely consumers will be affected.
The only time Apple users might need to be alert is when using a public Wi-Fi network. "To pull off the attack, the adversary needs to be on the same network as the victim, which is realistic if, for example, the victim is connected to public Wi-Fi," Titterington added.
For those still concerned, there are some other ways to avoid the issue. This includes disabling the AirPlay receiver if it is not in use., restrict AirPlay access and change the setting to "Allow AirPlay for" to "Current User".
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