You Don’t Have to Update to iOS 26 to Protect Your iPhone From DarkSword Malware

Last month, news broke about "DarkSword," a malware kit that makes it easy for hackers to scrape passwords, emails, crypto wallets, and more from your iPhone. You don't have to do much to put yourself in harms way, either: Visiting a malicious website is all it takes for DarkSword to get to work, which makes it particularly dangerous.

It's not totally clear what DarkSword's risk is to the average user. Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) says it identified "multiple commercial surveillance vendors and suspected state-sponsored actors" using the malware against targets in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Malaysia, and Ukraine, appearing as if the victims were highly-specific. That said, the malware kit leaked onto the internet last week, which, theoretically, makes it much more accessible to your everyday hacker. While DarkSword hackers were previously highly organized, and, in some cases, funded by state governments, perhaps now the type of hacker who would go after the average user would be intrigued—especially considering the pool of users who could be targeted.

DarkSword affects more iPhones than you might think

That's the other major issue with DarkSword: so many iPhones are potentially vulnerable. According to GTIG, all iPhones running iOS 26 prior to version 26.3, and all iPhones running iOS 18 prior to version 18.7.3 are vulnerable. If you're the sort who keeps their iPhone updated to the latest OS at all times, you're set. But there are plenty of users out there who don't, which poses multiple issues. For one, those users might not update their iPhones frequently, so they may be running an outdated, vulnerable version without realizing it. But there are also the people who are deliberately avoiding Apple's controversial iOS 26 update, even if their iPhones support it. Whether they're unhappy about Liquid Glass, or they're concerned about performance issues, many users have opted to stay on iOS 18.

This doesn't jive with Apple's security philosophy. Typically, if you're running an older version of iOS on a device that can update, Apple will cut you off from security updates until you update to the latest version. An iPhone 16 running iOS 18, for example, received iOS 18.7.3—but not iOS 18.7.7. That means that, shy of updating to the latest version of iOS 26, that iPhone 16 is vulnerable to any and all new vulnerabilities that emerge—including potential DarkSword exploits. An iPhone XS running iOS 18 can update to 18.7.7, but that's because it can't update to iOS 26. That iPhone 16, however? Update, or bust.

All iPhones can now update to protect against DarkSword

Now, the company is changing its tune. Apple told Wired that it will issue a new security patch for all devices running iOS 18 on Wednesday—regardless of whether or not they can update to iOS 26. The move shows how serious the situation really is: Not only is DarkSword a threat to iPhone users, it shows that there are enough users sticking with iOS 18 that Apple feels the need to issue them patches. It isn't in a position to make these users choose between a specific OS and the latest security updates.

Interestingly, it's the second time in a month Apple has had to issue this type of expansion security program. In early March, the company issued patches for older iPhones to protect against the "Coruna" exploit kit.

Apple typically releases updates around 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET), so expect this update sometime around then. If you have auto-updates enabled, you won't have to do anything to update, but if you want to install it as soon as possible, you'll need to head to Settings > General > Software Updates to manually download the update.

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