Apple has introduced updates to fill security holes discovered by the Indian "CERT-IN" team for rapid technical intervention in Apple Watch smart watches operating with outdated operating systems that facilitate hackers' penetration of the privacy of their owners.
The vulnerabilities affect watches running the “watchOS 8.6” system, and everything that is older than it, and their impact varies between what allows circumventing the multi-touch feature on the Apple Watch’s “Multi-Touch Component” screen, and what affects the memory of graphics processing engines, in addition to a vulnerability Web content rendering platform WebKit, as well as other vulnerabilities.
Regarding the nature of these vulnerabilities, technological expert Mohammed Al-Harthy says that they "allow hackers to gain access through the defenses and security protocols applied to Apple's old operating systems for its Apple Watch."
And about how it works, Al-Harthy adds to “Sky News Arabia”, that it “leads to running malicious code remotely, which may lead to hackers accessing and seizing user data without their knowledge, or controlling their smart watches, and directing and implementing remote commands on a watch.” the user".
After the CERT-IN team discovered the vulnerabilities, he contacted Apple, which in turn announced security updates to fill those vulnerabilities, before releasing the “watchOS 8.7” update, which is compatible with Apple Watch watches starting from the third generation “Apple Watch Series.” 3” and later, providing the necessary protection for users’ privacy.
Al-Harthy stressed that it is necessary for the user to take care of filling those gaps that may appear on his smart watch from time to time, by constantly installing updates.
He explained that "weaknesses in any technological system will not end, and in parallel, updates are also continuing, as the security team of giant technology companies tracks the weaknesses in their security system that hackers are looking for, to bridge them, and then protect the data of their users."