Someone Could Steal Your Apple (AAPL) Password Through a Text
Software updates may seem annoying, but this latest one from Apple (ticker: AAPL) could save you from a scary proposition -- someone stealing your password.
Apple software has been vulnerable to hackers, who could gain people's passwords just by sending one text message, reports Fortune. Specifically, the problems lie in the program ImageIO. Hackers could send a multimedia message that's dangerously encoded in a "tagged image file format," which would immediately permeate the device. The hack could break into a computer's memory, stealing login and password information, Craig Williams, senior technical lead and head of global outreach at Cisco Systems (CSCO) Talos, told Fortune.
He said that consumers are also vulnerable to the hack through ways like email and webpage, though they would have to open said message or go to said website through Safari.
The only catch for ensuring password protection is downloading the update. These problems are associated with recent iPhone iOS and Mac OS X El Capitan iterations, and other software, reports Fortune.
Security is of utmost importance to both companies and consumers, particularly as the crowded tech market continually saturates and people are still just as fickle with their tech purchases.
Apple stock was up 0.8 percent Thursday, a significant turnaround after falling more than 22 percent in the last year. The tech giant is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings July 26.
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David Oliver is Associate Editor, Social Media at U.S. News & World Report. Follow him on Twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn, or send him an email at doliver@usnews.com.
