'iPhone 7' news and updates: Apple releases software update against hacking

Apple has immediately rolled out a new security patch after reports indicate system vulnerabilities following a rare attempted cyberattack on one of United Arab Emirates' human rights lawyer using highly sophisticated spyware that targets serious iOS security flaws in iPhones and iPads. Upon learning the incident, the Cupertino-based giant immediately released version 9.3.5 for all iOS device users to download to add extra layer of anti-hacking protection.

The UAE-based dissident named Ahmed Mansoor reportedly received a text message earlier this month offering information on tortures happening in the Gulf State's prisons. Cautious as he is, Mansoor didn't click the suspicious link. As a human rights lawyer, Mansoor had been a victim of cyber-espionage in the past due to the nature of his advocacy.

"He reported it to Citizen Lab, an internet watchdog, setting off a chain reaction that in two weeks exposed a secretive Israeli cyberespionage firm, defanged a powerful new piece of eavesdropping software and gave millions of iPhone users across the world an extra boost to their digital security," said Associated Press, the media outlet which first reported on the issue.

In a recently published report, Citizen Lab said had Mansoor chosen to click on the link, hackers would have remotely accessed the dissident's iPhone 6 and put in a highly advanced eavesdropping software. In close inspection, Citizen Lab's security firm partner Lookout said that the cyberespionage software were one of the most "sophisticated pieces" they've ever encountered which is $1 million in approximate value. Clearly amused, Mansoor even joked to AP that if he'd been given 10 percent of the amount, he could have written a report about himself.

"It basically steals all the information on your phone, it intercepts every call, it intercepts every text message, it steals all the emails, the contacts, the FaceTime calls. It also basically backdoors every communications mechanism you have on the phone," Lookout Vice-president for research Mike Murray explained per Motherboard report.

After releasing the security patch, Apple remains tight-lipped as it refuses to release any details concerning security issues while an investigation is pending.