Apple Released Auto Update To Fix Security Issue

In the recent wake of news regarding a security flaw that was located in the NTP, Apple has issued their first automatic security update for Mac OS computers. Is this another case of too little too late?after all, researchers are warning about new bugs all the time. Previous to this, Apple have released security patches through their regular software update system. This system requires a user’s approval.

Apple spokesman Bill Evans informed Reuters, “The update is seamless. It doesn’t even require a restart.” The firm also said, the latest bugs were so severe it felt it needed to get customers protected immediately. The issue of the new Mac bugs that were found, were mentioned as part of security bulletins that were issued last week by the Department of Homeland Security and the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute.

The security bulletins identified dozens of technology companies, including Apple, whose products may be vulnerable. This particular vulnerability targets a component of the OS X operating system that is called the network time protocol, (NTP) This is used for synchronising clocks on computer systems. The protocol is a global method of synchronising time over a network and has previously been exploited by hackers.

Even though Microsoft has been offering automatic updates regarding security flaws for some time now, Apple have chosen not to deploy their previously developed technology for automatically pushing out security updates. The tech giant said that it did not know of any cases where hackers had yet exploited the bug.

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SOURCE: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30587243