Still running iOS 18? Install this critical update ASAP

Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. Getting the newest security patches for your iPhone usually means you have to be running the latest flavor of iOS; nowadays, that's iOS 26. In response to serious threats, Apple sometimes offers patches for older versions of iOS on devices that can't be updated. But if you can update your iPhone to the latest OS and simply choose not to, you're generally out of luck. Now, a new and dangerous exploit has prompted Apple to backtrack on that policy. Also: I've tracked Apple for nearly 50 years: How a garage rebel became a multitrillion-dollar empire Rolled out today is a security patch designed to protect iPhones still running iOS 18 against the DarkSword exploit. As documented by Google and by security firms iVerify and Lookout on March 18, DarkSword is a particularly vicious type of spyware exploit that can infect vulnerable iPhones with malware; all you have to do is visit a malicious or compromised website. Attackers can then control your infected device, allowing them to spy on your activities, steal personal files, capture your text messages, grab stored passwords, and infiltrate cryptocurrency accounts. After the exploit has completed its mission, all traces of the infection are removed so that you wouldn't even know you've been victimized, according to Malwarebytes. Active since November 2025, DarkSword has been weaponized by several cybercriminal and state-backed groups. So far, most of the attacks have targeted co...