Apple issues iOS 9.3.5 update, patching serious security issues discovered just 10 days ago
Apple on Thursday pushed out yet another important update for its iOS 9 operating system, addressing serious security holes apparently exploited by an Israeli hacking firm, in what could be the final patch ahead of the release of iOS 10.
iOS 9.3.5 is now available through Software Update on compatible devices, and can also be installed through iTunes on a connected Mac or PC. As with the previous release, Apple has characterized the latest build as an "important security update" recommended for all users.
Apple turned around the patch quickly, just 10 days after a pair of security researchers alerted the company to potential flaws in the OS, according to The New York Times. The issues were said to be exploited by an Israeli company called the NSO Group that specializes in tracking the mobile phones of targets.
While it's unclear just how much access the NSO Group had to devices running iOS 9, Thursday's report noted that the group had developed software that could read text messages, emails, calls, contacts and more. Whether the full range of exploits were specific to the iPhone, or if they applied to other smartphone models, is unclear.
"It can even record sounds, collect passwords, and trace the whereabouts of the phone user," the report said.
The security holes were discovered by Bill Marczak and John Scott-Railton.
The launch of iOS 9.3.5 comes a few weeks after iOS 9.3.4 was publicly released. Like that update, iOS 9.3.5 also did not have a beta period for developers or testers.
Apple is set to release its next major platform update, iOS 10, this fall, likely in September. It includes major notification improvements, third-party app support for Siri voice prompts, and upgrades to native apps including Messages, Maps and Photos.
For more on iOS 10, see AppleInsider's ongoing Inside iOS 10 series.
iOS 9.3.5 is now available through Software Update on compatible devices, and can also be installed through iTunes on a connected Mac or PC. As with the previous release, Apple has characterized the latest build as an "important security update" recommended for all users.
Apple turned around the patch quickly, just 10 days after a pair of security researchers alerted the company to potential flaws in the OS, according to The New York Times. The issues were said to be exploited by an Israeli company called the NSO Group that specializes in tracking the mobile phones of targets.
While it's unclear just how much access the NSO Group had to devices running iOS 9, Thursday's report noted that the group had developed software that could read text messages, emails, calls, contacts and more. Whether the full range of exploits were specific to the iPhone, or if they applied to other smartphone models, is unclear.
"It can even record sounds, collect passwords, and trace the whereabouts of the phone user," the report said.
The security holes were discovered by Bill Marczak and John Scott-Railton.
The launch of iOS 9.3.5 comes a few weeks after iOS 9.3.4 was publicly released. Like that update, iOS 9.3.5 also did not have a beta period for developers or testers.
Apple is set to release its next major platform update, iOS 10, this fall, likely in September. It includes major notification improvements, third-party app support for Siri voice prompts, and upgrades to native apps including Messages, Maps and Photos.
For more on iOS 10, see AppleInsider's ongoing Inside iOS 10 series.
Comments
Then Tuesday morning I grabbed my phone at 7:00am after charging all night and started to read a book. In 30 minutes my battery dropped to 84%! Holy crap. After another 30 minutes 64%. And so on and so on.
I immediatrly called my contact on the inside in engineering and explained what was going on and proof that it wasn't just my fault hone. My roommate complained Monday that by 12:30 his phone completely died and needed me to bring him a charger. He's a pharmacy manager and they use it to check drug interactions if the computer gets moving too slowly. I also told him that I had been taking screen shots to have proof.
My contact sent me a program they use at Apple to "log" battery activity (I'm trying to be as vague as possible abd word things carefully so I don't get into trouble).
After installing and getting the initial info to them, they had me re-charge my phone to 100% and start over, I also sent a screen shot every 15 minutes to show how quickly the draining was. By noon I had only 2% so I sent it quickly then it died.
Kerp in mind I had NOTHING open and NOTHING running. I even stopped reading. I just left it on the table next to the laptop.
The next day they sent me a version of IOS to see if it fixed it the problem. It did and the following day beta 7 came out. Now everything is working correctly.
I thought it was strange when they released beta 7 there were no release notes but my friend said the word "battery" is a word they try to avoid using at all costs because mentioning it causes people to start obsessing with their device and even a 1% differential and people start reporting "the sky is falling the sky is falling".
The main thing is they were able to identify "it" (the problem) quickly and (the battery life) is actually working better than it has during any of the 6 previous betas. I want to say exactly what is was but I was reminded of the NDA about 100 times during the process of testing and fixing so... just glad it's fixed and even improved now. I swear I'm getting an extra hour than I was before. I guess that's the obsessing thing they try to avoid. GRIN
and just because I'm not updating, that doesn't mean it has security issues
i've downloaded fixes for most security holes before Apple had addressed them in iOS updates.
most of those patches are readily available on Cydia.
never again am I updating a whole number on any Apple iOS device again
i had a perfectly working iPad 3 running iOS 8
upgraded to iOS 9, and it totally killed the machine
i suspected it was my backup, so I reset the entire device
set it up as new, and turned off all the fancy features
still sucked. Evening launching safari took ages
so I have no doubt they add features just to make the older devices obsolete, so people think maybe it's time I buy a new device.
Congrats, here's a DUNCE cap for you...
Edit: Misread the comment. Never mind.
Maybe swift is a (the) glimmer of hope I this respect, but so far no signs of a rewrite of the OS and all of its libraries. IOSsec is a long way out, it's more iOSsuck right now.
Edit: I really do hope Apple steps up to the plate and makes its software really (and provable) secure, if not they will join the ranks of MS and Android and will make switching a real option.
so your beta 6 is the battery fix