APPLE

Company says there is no evidence that iPhone flaw was used against customers

SAN FRANCISCO / WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Apple has found no evidence that a flaw in its iPhone and iPad email application has been used against users of the devices and that it believes the flaw does not pose an immediate risk.
Security firm ZecOps detailed a flaw on Wednesday that it said may have left more than half a billion iPhones vulnerable to hackers.
Zuk Avraham, chief executive of ZecOps, told Reuters he found evidence that the vulnerability had been exploited in at least six cyber attacks. Reuters was unable to independently verify the claim.
Apple on Wednesday acknowledged the vulnerability in the Mail application, and said it has developed a fix that will be introduced in a future update for millions of devices.
On Thursday, Apple contested Avraham's evidence that the flaw was used against iPhone users.
"We have thoroughly investigated the researcher's report and based on the information provided, we have concluded that these problems do not pose an immediate risk to our users," Apple said in a statement.
"The researcher identified three issues in Mail, but, by themselves, they are insufficient to get past the security protections of the iPhone and iPad, and we found no evidence that they were used against customers."
Avraham did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Apple's statement.

Stephen Nellis