Featured News

Serious Security Lapses in Apple’s MacOS High Sierra

How a small but serious security lapse in Apple's latest iOS High Sierra left apple users exposed to hackers.

It does not happen every day that Apple releases a patch against time to fix a serious security problem.This week came to light that its latest operating system, MacOS High Sierra, allowed access to the computer without using any password.

I had only to write the word ” root ” as the user name, leave the space blank where the key is placed and press the Enter to simply enter any system. It is an embarrassing bug and Apple users are not accustomed to failing their products, which are often categorized as more reliable and secure than their rivals.

In fact, the firm admitted that was wrong with the launch of High Sierra.

Security is a top priority for every Apple product, and regrettably we stumbled with this release of macOS.  We greatly regret this error and we apologize to all Mac users, both for releasing with this vulnerability and for the concern it has caused. Our customers deserve better. We are auditing our development processes to help prevent this from happening again.

Watch How Apple MacOS Login Flaw That Puts Data at Risk

Failure after another

Last month, Apple had to release a patch for another password problem related to a problem in High Sierra. Some users found that when they asked the software clue, it actually revealed the entire password.

High Sierra seems to be failing when providing access to users, but there were also problems with iOS, the software using iPhones and iPads.

Earlier this month, some iPhone users expressed frustration on social networks by a bug that caused the letter “i” inexplicably: it was automatically corrected by the letter “a” and a question mark.

Again, Apple was quick to fix things.

However, these cases left some questions unanswered about whether the firm had lowered their standards.

Cybersecurity expert Alan Woodward, University of Surrey, UK, agrees with Mawston. “Surely there is a growing perception that quality control is not at the level it should, ” he explains. “I use Apple products by the level of encryption and the attention given to applications in its online store. There used to be this kind of mistakes.”

And that makes the devices it manufactures are increasingly attractive to hackers, who often look for vulnerabilities in the most popular systems, where they have more opportunities to scam more people or steal data.

But perhaps this increase in popularity has changed the way we perceive errors software of Apple, suggests Ian Fogg, computer multinational IHS Technology.

Apple will process the shipment of 88 million iPhones this quarter, with millions of iPads and Macs, explains the specialist.

“And at that scale, a problem that affects even a small number of people in percentage terms, actually affects a lot of people in absolute terms, that is the problem facing Apple”.

The company still should be considered a supplier of high – quality devices, he says, and adds that there are also security issues with Google and Microsoft products.

How to fix the iPhone’s letter “i” glitch?

In contrast, Android phones are not so easy for Google to update mass because there is a wide range of versions, so only phones that made Google itself are the most important improvements immediately.

Fogg also says that the iPhone error that caused the letter “i” is especially interesting because it seems to be the result of an automatic learning wrong.

Automated processes will be increasingly common in developing software , says Fogg, as they are able to accelerate the completion of the product.

But give power to the algorithms have their downside.

“It is very difficult for companies to know if it will work as well as learn,” he adds.

The main issue is that perceptions are important and that Apple should handle these quality control problems as soon as possible, says Ben Wood of CCS Insight.

“Apple has built its business around a reputation for high quality, ease of use and superior customer service .”

“It will be in trouble by recent failures and enormous effort to fix the fault of High Sierra, especially with regard to ensuring the safety of users of MacOS”.

Related Articles

Back to top button