Apple leaves iPad security issues unpatched
In addition to iOS 4′s many, many hot new features, this major mobile operating system patches a whopping 65 vulnerabilities and 35 of those carry the risk of “arbitrary code execution,” making them critical problems. The big hole in this story is that iOS 4 isn’t iPad compatible yet — think “Fall” — and it’s never coming to the original iPhone and iPod touch.
Computerworld reports that however wonderful iOS 4 might be, including the scores of security vulnerabilities patched, it’s not wonderful for iPad, original iPhone and original iPod touch owners.
[T]he first-generation iPhone and iPod Touch, as well as the much newer iPad, may be vulnerable to some or all of the 65 bugs. The new iOS 4 operating system, which launched yesterday, can’t be installed on 2007′s iPhone and iPod Touch, and the upgrade is not slated to reach iPad owners until this fall.
And, hey, doesn’t that suck.
Also, before you shrug that smug Apple smug, you should know that at least one of these vulnerabilities was used by hackers at this year’s Pwn2Own contest to successfully hack an iPhone — real exploits are out there.
Am I, the owner of an unpatched Wi-Fi iPad living in a provincial town, worried even a little bit? Nope, I’m still feeling pretty smug, though I not be quite so sanguine if I lived in San Francisco or New York…
What’s your take?
