Why You Need To Update Your Apple Device Right Now

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If you have an iPhone or iPad, you need to update it as soon as possible. Why? Your Apple device is susceptible to “zero-click” spyware, which means that it can be compromised without you clicking on anything.

The vulnerability has come to light recently with Apple’s release of a security patch that fixes the flaw.

In this article, I’m going to show you what the security issue is and how to download the latest update to protect your device.

Urgent: Update Your iPhone or iPad Now

Apple is typically mum about its devices’ security vulnerabilities. On its security update page, the company says, “Apple doesn’t disclose, discuss, or confirm security issues until an investigation has occurred and patches or releases are generally available.”

According to Citizen Lab, an academic research initiative focused on digital threats, the hack, called “FORCEDENTRY,” processes “a maliciously crafted PDF” and “may lead to arbitrary code execution.”

The security threat can affect the operating systems of several Apple products, including the iPhone, iPad, MacBook and Apple Watch.

“We determined that the mercenary spyware company NSO Group used the vulnerability to remotely exploit and infect the latest Apple devices with the Pegasus spyware,” says on the Citizen Lab website. “We believe that FORCEDENTRY has been in use since at least February 2021.”

How To Update Your iPhone

The following instructions apply to an iPhone but are similar to those for a MacBook, iPad and Apple Watch.

  1. Go to your Settings and tap on Software Update.
  2. You’ll see details about IOS 14.8 (see screenshot below).
  3. Tap on Download and Install.
iPhone update
Screenshot of iPhone

See Apple’s update page to find details for your specific device.

On the iPhone, the update requires that you have at least 5.11 GB of storage space available on your device. If you find that you don’t have enough space to download the update, you’ll be prompted to remove some files to create room.

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Need some help with that? Here are some easy ways to create space on an iPhone.

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