NEW: Apple Will Push Out Rare 'Backported' Patches to Protect iOS 18 Users From DarkSword Hacking Tool (Wednesday)

[usonian]

As a DarkSword takeover technique spreads, Apple tells WIRED it will release fixes for millions of iPhone owners who remain on iOS 18 rather than force them to update to iOS 26 simply to be protected.

Wired: archived at https://archive.ph/lnKTe#selection-705.0-705.200

Now, however, the appearance of not one but two sophisticated, in-the-wild iPhone hacking techniques in a single month—and some iPhone owners’ distaste for the look and feel of the latest version of iOS—may have finally shifted Apple’s patching policy. For the second time in just a few weeks, Apple is responding to the spread of a hacking tool by pushing out patches for older versions of iOS—and in the latest case, even for phones that have the capability to upgrade to its most recent version.

An Apple spokesperson tells WIRED that the company will issue software updates on Wednesday morning to protect iOS users from a hacking technique known as DarkSword, which is capable of silently taking over certain iPhones running iOS 18—the previous version of Apple’s mobile operating system—when they visit a website infected with the malicious code. Users of Apple’s latest iOS version released in September, iOS 26, were already protected against DarkSword. But the new patch push is designed to specifically protect vulnerable iOS 18 users who have so far resisted updating to iOS 26.

Apple’s move to allow iOS 18 users to patch their devices without updating to its latest operating system version—a practice of protecting an older operating system version that the cybersecurity industry calls “backporting” a patch—marks a surprising pivot for Apple. When researchers at Google and cybersecurity firms iVerify and Lookout revealed DarkSword nearly two weeks ago, Apple released iOS 18-specific patches only for older devices whose hardware was incompatible with iOS 26, and recommended all other users update to its most recent OS version.

Given that as many as a quarter of all iPhone users remained on iOS 18 as of February—and many of those users have consciously chosen not to upgrade to iOS 26 because of the unpopularity of its features like Apple's new “liquid glass” interface—that left many millions of holdouts facing a dilemma between their software preferences and their security.

Of course, since many Apple users consider ios26 to be "a dumpster fire", fixing the usability gaffes in it might get more users to install it instead of sticking to ios 18.

If they're smart ...

[Sector 001]

1. Four years ago Apple had to release another patch.

Because Apple systems could be taken over with just a simple text message.