Apple blasts Google for stoking fear among iPhone users

Google exaggerated iOS security threat, all iPhones are safe: Apple

Last month, Google's security researchers of Project Zero posted a blog highlighting a security glitch in iOS-powered iPhones, which compromised users sensitive information.

The report said cybercriminals had infected some select websites with malware and when the iPhone user visited those webpages, they sneak into the mobile. Over time, they could steal data from iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram, Hangouts, Gmail, Contacts, Photos and also track GPS location in real-time.

This apparently caused a huge uproar on social media channels and obviously, Apple device owners were anxious to know about the exact nature of the vulnerability and how widespread it was.

Later, it came to light that fewer than a dozen websites were infected with shady codes and the bad actors were particularly targeting the Uighur community in China. Apple had actually got wind of the threat way back in early 2019 before Google informed them and was immediately fixed with a security patch in iOS 12.1.4 in early February.

Now, Apple has come up with a statement to clear the air over the hullabaloo created by Google. The Cupertino company has stated all the iPhones are safe from any latest threats and has accused the latter of exaggerating the security vulnerability in iOS.

"Google’s post, issued six months after iOS patches were released, creates the false impression of “mass exploitation” to “monitor the private activities of entire populations in real-time,” stoking fear among all iPhone users that their devices had been compromised. This was never the case," Apple said in a statement.

The search engine giant had also claimed that iOS was vulnerable to security threat for more than two years, but in reality, it was not more than two months, Apple added. The company has assured iPhone users that iOS is safe and will strive hard to protect the devices from hackers.

"iOS security is unmatched because we take end-to-end responsibility for the security of our hardware and software. Our product security teams around the world are constantly iterating to introduce new protections and patch vulnerabilities as soon as they’re found. We will never stop our tireless work to keep our users safe," Apple said.

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