News

Apple patches critical flaws in iPhone, iPod Touch

Apple patched five vulnerabilities in the iPhone's operating system, including one in a password-locking feature that has required attention before.

iPhone OS 3.1.3, the first update since September 2009, addressed five bugs, three of which contain a critical vulnerability. One of these vulnerabilities could allow a person that has physical access to the iPhone to bypass the password-locking feature and access the user's data.

iPhone and iPod Touch owners can wait out the update interval -- iTunes automatically checks Apple's update servers once a week -- or they can retrieve iPhone 3.1.3 manually by selecting "Check for Update" under the iTunes Help menu and then docking the iPhone to a PC or Macintosh.