If you have an iPhone or iPad, update it to iOS 18.2 now. We are waiting. While you're downloading, let me tell you that Apple's Passwords app has a serious flaw that needs to be patched immediately.

With iOS 18, Apple released the Passwords app, a built-in password manager for all login data. Recently, however, a pair of security researchers at X shared a vulnerability they discovered in the way the Passwords app communicates with external websites.

The Passwords app uses unencrypted HTTP to download an icon for password entry. This means that the app is communicating with the Internet in an insecure manner. Each time a website is accessed to collect the visual icons associated with password entry, it is open to attack from a malicious network. These files may be “malicious payloads” containing malware.

Even if you did everything correctly when setting up Apple's built-in password manager, this bug will leave you vulnerable to hackers. However, you can certainly protect yourself by maintaining your own best practices and installing updates as soon as they become available.

The rest of the iOS 18.2 update includes other features, including Apple Intelligence upgrades such as new ChatGPT integration with Siri and additional features for Image Playground.

First, you will need to update your iPhone to iOS 18.2. To do that, go to Settings > General > Software Update where you should see iOS 18.2 and description, from there you should be able to tap Update Now to start installing it. Though Apple doesn't have an iOS equivalent to the best Android antivirus apps due to its malware scanning limitations, there are still some options. For example, some of the best Mac antivirus software from Intego can scan iPhone and iPad malware if the device is connected to the Mac via USB. Similarly, you can stop using Apple Passwords and get the best password manager instead.

Hackers love to target users with older software, so if you have not yet installed iOS 18.2, we recommend that you download and install it immediately.