In the event you’ve been clinging to iOS 18 to keep away from Apple’s Liquid Glass interface, it’s possible you’ll remember that it comes with a safety trade-off that exposes your iPhone to vulnerabilities already mounted in iOS 26. However in some excellent news, Apple is rolling out a recent model of iOS 18 that can shield newer iPhones from the “DarkSword” assault.
DarkSword can remotely set up malware on iPhones operating iOS 18.4 to 18.7. Apple launched a patch in December through iOS 18.7.3, however just for the iPhone XS and XR, which do not help iOS 26. Everybody else was inspired to improve to iOS 26 to keep away from DarkSword.
Adoption has been sluggish, nonetheless. An estimated 16% to twenty% of newer iPhones are nonetheless operating iOS 18. On social media, some customers say they’ve been ducking iOS 26 exactly due to its controversial Liquid Glass interface, which has obtained blended evaluations for its translucent design.
(Credit score: Apple)
So, as Wired first reported, Apple is taking the uncommon step of “backporting” its safety patches. We’re as much as iOS 18.7.7, launched final week, additionally only for the iPhone XS and XR. However it’s now accessible for newer fashions, together with the iPhone 11 by way of iPhone 16 and the second-gen iPhone SE, which means they, too, get the DarkSword patch. Apple did the identical with iPadOS 18.7.7.
“Customers with Computerized Updates turned on can routinely obtain vital safety protections from net assaults referred to as DarkSword,” Apple says.
To manually set up iOS 18.7.7 in your iPhone, navigate to Settings > Common > Software program Replace. Scroll all the way down to Additionally Obtainable and faucet iOS 18.7.7 and select whether or not to put in it now or later.
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(Credit score: PCMag/Apple)
The specter of DarkSword has solely grown after a consumer leaked the assault on-line, making it simple for different hackers to undertake and probably enhance it. Suspected Russian state-sponsored hackers have been sending phishing emails with a hyperlink to web sites internet hosting the DarkSword exploit.
“Leaving these customers uncovered can be a tough resolution to defend, significantly for a corporation that facilities its model round safety and privateness,” stated Rocky Cole, a co-founder of iVerify, one of many cybersecurity suppliers that investigated and warned about DarkSword. “Apple has discovered itself in a novel place now, the place prior to now, the overwhelming majority of customers upgraded to the most recent iOS inside 2 weeks of launch, iOS 26 had a really public pushback towards it.”
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In an up to date help web page, Apple wrote: “Units with older variations of iOS 18 will obtain an extra alert to put in a Essential Safety Replace.”
Nevertheless, some customers say DarkSword pushed them to replace to iOS 26 previous to Wednesday’s launch. “I reluctantly up to date to iOS 26.4 due to the exploit, and now they’re releasing it for all gadgets,” wrote one disenchanted consumer on Reddit.
For even older iPhones, Apple launched a “software program replace for iOS 15 and iOS 16 on March 11, 2026, to increase safety to older gadgets that can’t replace to the most recent model of iOS.” The built-in Lockdown Mode may also shield towards DarkSword and different assaults that exploit malicious net content material.
About Our Professional
Michael Kan
Senior Reporter
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I have been a journalist for over 15 years. I acquired my begin as a faculties and cities reporter in Kansas Metropolis and joined PCMag in 2017, the place I cowl satellite tv for pc web companies, cybersecurity, PC {hardware}, and extra. I am at present primarily based in San Francisco, however beforehand spent over 5 years in China, overlaying the nation’s expertise sector.
Since 2020, I’ve lined the launch and explosive progress of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite tv for pc web service, writing 600+ tales on availability and have launches, but additionally the regulatory battles over the growth of satellite tv for pc constellations, fights with rival suppliers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the trouble to develop into satellite-based cellular service. I’ve combed by way of FCC filings for the most recent information and pushed to distant corners of California to check Starlink’s mobile service.
I additionally cowl cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. Earlier this 12 months, the FTC pressured Avast to pay customers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and promoting their private info to third-party purchasers, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.
I additionally cowl the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in entrance of a Greatest Purchase to get an RTX 3000. I am now following how President Trump’s tariffs will have an effect on the trade. I am at all times wanting to be taught extra, so please leap within the feedback with suggestions and ship me suggestions.
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