A warning has been issued to iPhone users after cybersecurity experts uncovered a bug in Apple’s Mirroring feature that leaves your data exposed.
Security software firm Sevco found the flaw, when used on a work-issued Mac, shared smartphone data with a company’s IT systems.
They confirmed employees’ apps, photos and messages were stored on the corporate networks accessed by employers.
The security team has urged iPhone users to stop using the feature on work computers and companies to identify any enterprise IT systems that collect software inventory from Macs until Apple releases a patch.
Security researchers have discovered a bug in Apple’s iOS 18 that shares personal information from an iPhone to a Mac, which can be stored in outside systems
‘This Apple bug is a major privacy risk because it can expose aspects of their personal lives that they don’t want to share or that could put them at risk, Sevco shared in a statement.
‘This could include exposing a VPN app in a country that restricts access to the internet, a dating app that reveals their sexual orientation in a jurisdiction with limited protections or legal consequences, or an app related to a health condition that an employee simply does not want to share.
‘The consequences of such data exposure may be severe.’
However, companies could find themselves in legal trouble if the problem is not addressed.
‘It may lead to violation of major privacy laws such as CCPA, potential litigation, and federal agency enforcement,’ explained Sevco.
The security team also noted that it has contacted Apple after several companies have confirmed the issue, and hopes a patch will soon be released.
‘We expect Apple to patch macOS before long based on our conversations with them,’ Sevco said.
‘When a patch becomes available, companies will need to apply the patch to stop collecting private employee data.
‘After the patch is available, Sevco recommends that companies purge any mistakenly collected employee data to eliminate liability risk.’
The team uncovered the bug on September 2 and confirmed iPhone Mirroring was the source.
On September 30, Apple reported it had reproduced the issue and told Sevco it would address the issue in an update coming soon – but that was on October 3.
DailyMail.com has contacted Apple for comment.
Sevco’s discover announcement comes just a week after Apple released an urgent security update to fix bugs.
The tech giant deployed iOS 18.0.1 on October 3 to fix issues that caused the new iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro to crash.
In the patch notes for the update, Apple said it has fixed an issue in which the ‘touch screen may be temporarily unresponsive in certain circumstances on iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro models.’
This will come as good news to the iPhone 16 users who have reported that their new phones’ screens have often become unresponsive since the iOS 18 update.
On, X formerly Twitter, one commenter wrote: ‘iPhone 16 Pro Max is buggy AF! from the touch screen being unresponsive to the phone switching to a lower refresh rate’.
Another commenter wrote: ‘I spent $1600 for a iPhone 16 Pro Max, to watch it freezing and crashing at least twice a day.’
‘My iPhone 16 pro has been pretty unusable since I got it. Freezes, crashes, repeat’, added another.
In addition to fixing this frustrating issue, Apple says that the iOS 18.0.1 update will fix a glitch which caused the camera to freeze when recording with the Ultra Wide camera.
The patch also included a fix for a bug in which ‘messages may unexpectedly quit when replying to a message with a shared Apple Watch face.’
This update comes alongside the release of iPadOS 18.0.1 for the iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later.’