5 security improvements arriving with iOS 16.5 and iPadOS 16.5

You probably couldn't have missed it if you have automatic updates enabled. The one which probably presents itself as the last version of the iPhone operating system before iOS 17, namelyiOS 16.5, is out. On the menu this time, several additions including Siri, wallpapers and the Apple News app. But that's not all. Indeed, the developer has also planned dozens of security patches that have gone unnoticed: an opportunity to take stock of their content.

First of all, however, you should know that some of the breaches that we are going to mention would already have beenactively exploited by pirates. Unfortunately, as is often the case in this type of scenario, Apple does not specify the extent of the damage and we do not know if French users could have been targeted at the moment. This information nevertheless reminds us that it is particularly important to install the security updates that Cupertino deploys, to protect yourself as best as possible and as soon as possible.

1 – Five fixes for WebKit

To begin with, Apple set out to publish no less than five patches for WebKit. WebKit is the rendering engine that powers Safari, Apple's proprietary browser installed automatically on iPads and iPhones, which have been hit hard by the errors resolved here. But other browsers are also based on its source code, like Mozilla Firefox – whichcouldmoreover soon to do without it.

Among the quintet of fixes, one of them, spotted by an anonymous developer who sent the file to Apple, apparently allowed hackers to execute programs arbitrarily. For what purpose? Impossible to know more at the moment. However, we know that this type of technique can allow government agencies to monitor political opponents, or malicious Internet users tomonitor their victim remotelyand without her even being aware of it. Hence the importance of installing a good antivirus on your iPhone. Or when deleting your history isn't enough...

2 – Leaks of private photos resolved?

With this, iOS 16.5 and iPadOS 16.5 also resolve two other concerns regarding Photos, the virtual media library of iPhones and iPads. Here, one of the incidents concerned the momentary display of normally deleted snapshots. A problem also affecting other versions of the headed platforms; correctedwith iOS 15.7.6 and iPadOS 15.7.6just a few hours ago.

The second flaw concerns images that the user has chosen to hide, via thededicated functionalityof Photos. Here again, the files in question could previously be distributed without prior request from the user, through the optionVisual search. Apple has therefore fortunately corrected the situation, particularly on the iPad Pros, all models of which were affected.

3 – Shortcuts stand firm

Particularly sensitive, Shortcuts allows you to automatically trigger actions on an iPhone or iPad, sometimes in the background and therefore discreetly. However, here again two patches have improved the app, which until now couldt override mobile users’ privacy preferences. A key theme of iOS updates.

Apple has not specified whether hackers were able to take advantage of these blunders, spotted by engineers working at Alibaba. But one of them could have made it possible to use data “sensitive” within certain shortcuts, without notifying the user. As a safety measure, it is therefore better to carry out a quick check-up of your own models – or reinstall them.

4 – Siri no longer lets your contacts escape

Another loophole filled by Apple offered – until iOS 16.5 – the possibility to anyone who had aphysical accessto iPhones released from 2017 to extract private coordinates. These were then readable directly from the locked screen, although recently improved with the optionAlways onon iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Here, it is therefore potentially those around you or strangers during outdoor outings who were able to access your information. Tablets are also affected, notably the last two iPad minis which equip the cash registers of thousands of restaurants. If you manage a brand of this type, it is the staff that you will have to trust.

5 – Weather better protects your location

Finally, we learned that a fix has been released for the Weather app. This may have previously leaked thegeolocationusers of iPhone 8 and later models. A risk still present if you have not installed iOS 16.5, or iPadOS 16.5 on Apple's large touch screens.