Concerns are growing that hundreds of millions of devices worldwide are exposed to security threats after a hacking tool targeting older iPhones and iPads was released online.
U.S. tech outlet TechCrunch reported on the 23rd that the latest version of the iPhone hacking tool "DarkSword" was released on the developer platform GitHub. The tool was designed to steal personal information and is known to have been used by Russia-linked hackers in attacks on Ukraine.
DarkSword can infect a device in a short time and extract passwords, photos, messenger chats, and internet browsing histories. It was analyzed to primarily target devices running relatively old operating systems, including iOS 18 released in 2024.
According to Apple, about 34% of iPhones and 43% of iPads worldwide still run iOS 18 or earlier. Given that the total number of active devices is about 2.5 billion, at least hundreds of millions of devices are potential targets.
Matthias Frillingsdorf, co-founder of security firm iVerify, also warned, "This tool works without special configuration, so it can be used without expertise," adding, "Now that it is on GitHub, it will be hard to stop its spread, and criminals are likely to use it."
Apple said it is aware of the vulnerability and has released an emergency security patch for older devices that cannot be updated to the latest operating system. It emphasized, "Keeping software up to date is the most important step for device security."