The security of Apple devices has become a terribly relevant aspect for some years now. The most veteran will remember those times when companies and users boasted that their computers were completely secure, to the point that they did not even need security solutions to protect them. Today, fortunately, that misconception has practically completely disappeared, although it is still possible to hear someone repeat it like a mantra, without knowing that with this attitude they are exposing themselves to all kinds of threats.
Apple, this must be recognized, does not rest on its laurels. quite the contrary, attaches great importance to security in its operating systems, it has even come up against public security agencies that demanded a back door in their devices to allow their investigations. Cupertino’s response to these requests has always been no, and it does not seem that any change will be considered in the future. We have also recently seen Apple’s forceful response after the Pegasus scandal, first denouncing those responsible, and later creating a specific mode for the iPhone that prevents espionage through said means.
This does not mean, of course, that Apple devices and software are risk-free.. In June of last year, for example, we told you about PACMAN, a vulnerability that affects M1 chips, and that’s just one example of many security problems. In those cases, when the “hole” exists, the key is to be able to provide a response as quickly as possible to the users who may be affected. However, the update system of the iPhone and iPads is not, by design, the most suitable to offer a quick response.
This, however, is going to change, and it is going to do so immediately, since Apple has announced Rapid Security Responses, a new model for security updates that the company defines, on its support page, in this way:
«Quick Security Responses are a new type of software release for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. They offer important security enhancements between software updates, such as improvements to the Safari web browser, the WebKit framework build, or other critical system libraries. . They can also be used to fix some security issues more quickly, such as issues that might have been exploited or reported.»
And what change does rapid security responses pose to the existing model so far? Well, these critical security updates will be applied automatically to the devices, that is, it will not be necessary for the user to update the operating system to receive said security solutions. This function will be activated by default, although users who wish to do so can deactivate it from the operating system settings.
Rapid security responses require iOS 16.4.1, iPadOS 16.4.1, or macOS Ventura 13.3.1, or any later version thereof and, so that the user knows that they have been applied, in addition to the fact that in some cases it may be necessary to restart the device, a letter will be displayed after the software version number, such as macOS 13.3 .1(a). And as for users who choose to disable Rapid Security Responses, they will get those security fixes when they download future updates to operating systems that already include them.
