Good morning there my friend. Unfortunately another major security flaw was found with iPhone and iPads that allows cybercriminals to take over your device without your knowledge and at this time, it’s unstoppable.
The vulnerability has to do with Apple’s Mail App, which comes factory installed on every iOS device. The security research firm, ZecOps discovered and notified Apple of the vulnerability, demonstrating how a specially-crafted email allows hackers to infect and then take hold of the device. Apple has responded by downplaying the vulnerability, stating that “We have found no evidence they [the vulnerabilities] were used against customers.”
However ZecOps discovered the vulnerabilities during forensic investigations of compromised individuals and companies from around the globe, including executives from fortune 500 companies in the US, Japan and throughout Europe. They have surmised with high confidence that these vulnerabilities are widely exploited in the wild in targeted attacks by advanced threat operator(s), including at least one nation state. This finding is huge as the vulnerability affects iOS devices all that way to iOS 6 which was released in 2012, almost 10 years ago.
The Takeaway
Luckily, you don’t need to use Apple’s Mail App to check your email. Here are 2 alternatives:
1. Gmail App
The Gmail app can not only be used to connect your phone or tablet to your G-Suite/Gmail account but most any service provider, including Yahoo, Outlook, Hotmail, Live and even 3rd party services such as Hawaii Road Runner and Hawaiiantel.net. There is also the ability to have your Gmail account act as the primary method of communication between 3rd party email service providers (eg. Hawaiiantel.net, hawaii.rr.com accounts). It’s a great solution to email boxes that are full due to space limitations – Gmail can act as the filing cabinet for those older messages. Here’s a quick article on how to set this up on your existing account: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/22370?hl=en
2. Outlook App
If you’re already using an Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live or Office 365/Microsoft 365 email account, you should consider using the Outlook App your primary method of communication, not Apple Mail. The Outlook App works natively with these services so everything just works better and with fewer issues.
In short, don’t use the Apple Mail App right now. Apple will address the security risk in a forthcoming update but as of now they have not provided a release date.
These are uncertain times. Stay alert and stay safe out there.
-A
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