Apple says that the biggest threat to iPhones is rogue spyware that has been found in the wild. That’s why, right before the holidays, it posted fixes for two very important security holes. At first, these strikes are aimed at well-known people. The threat then grows, though, and hundreds of millions more devices are now at risk.
Apple’s warnings about spyware aren’t new, and neither are its quick fixes for problems.
But this time there’s a catch. In order to get iOS 26, Apple is making all iPhone owners with an iPhone 11 or later. If not, there are no changes that can be made.
New information from analysts shows that hundreds of millions of iPhone users have not yet updated. We are now in a high-risk position because of this pushback. Attackers are taking advantage of a huge number of gadgets that have known security holes.
You should get iOS 26 on your iPhone right now if you haven’t already.
Even though it goes without saying that you should upgrade and install the fixes, you should do other things to help in the meantime, even if you don’t like Liquid Glass.
Now is the time to restart your iPhone. This was going to happen even if you had not updated to iOS 26. You haven’t, though, so it hasn’t. There are security holes in the version of iOS you’re using, and your phone needs to be restarted to make sure nothing bad is already running on it.
There is a lot of conflicting information online about how often reboots are needed. The NSA famously told people who use smartphones to restart them once a week, and other agencies have followed suit. The company tells Galaxy owners to do the same thing. And while Apple hasn’t given any advice of its own, the present situation is different.
One security agency says that “completely shutting down the device stops all processes and gets rid of all software that only lives in memory, like memory-based spyware that doesn’t stay on the device.” But be careful, because if the spyware stays on your computer, it will restart.
It’s not likely that spyware has been after you, but the phone you’re using has freely stopped getting help. Start it up every week until that changes. For the same reason, you should also be very careful with links, files, and pop-ups.
It was said in the study that these hacks often use “zero-day vulnerabilities.” Apple might not have known about these security holes at the time of the attack.
Because of this, hackers can take advantage of the flaw before Apple can fix it with a software update. That’s why Apple wants people to restart their iPhones.
Even though restarting won’t fix the problem for good, it can help get rid of some types of spyware and make it harder for hackers to keep getting into the device.
Once you take this easy step, Apple says it will give you extra security until a full security fix is released. The company that makes iPhones also said that these advanced attacks probably won’t affect most usual users, the story said.
The company did say, though, that everyone should be careful and follow simple safety rules. This means keeping iPhones up to date with the latest version of iOS, staying away from links you don’t know about, and not reading texts or files that look sketchy.
