Another Week, Another iOS Update

Apple releases its second iOS update in as many weeks. With rumors breaking of a potential future update that will integrate Siri voice commands, one of the most popular mobile OS' continues to be plagued by security problems.

Jerry Myers, Published 07/26/2011

We reported last week on the iOS 4.3.4 update. However, users are not being allowed to rest on their laurels. It is time to connect your iOS device of choice to your PC with a cable again as Apple is deploying the next update, version 4.3.5. This update yet again addresses another security flaw. Apple continues to apparently quickly issue updates to its mobile OS in rapid response to detected security threats.

The excerpt below details the specifics from Apple's support pages:

"Description: A certificate chain validation issue existed in the handling of X.509 certificates. An attacker with a privileged network position may capture or modify data in sessions protected by SSL/TLS. Other attacks involving X.509 certificate validation may also be possible. This issue is addressed through improved validation of X.509 certificate chains."

Apple initially rolled out iOS 4.3 back in mid-March. Featuring new capabilities such as Air Play enhancements, improved Safari performance, and Home Sharing, the update was a welcome splash for consumers who were arguably already pretty satisfied with the OS. While Apple received generally positive feedback on the update, it has released what is now 5 updates. All of these updates have been primarily in response to security issues discovered primarily by third parties.

Concurrently, rumors are proliferating concerning Apple's acquisition of Siri back in April. Siri is a company founded in late 2007 which developed an eponymous application that serves as a personal virtual assistant. Available in the AppStore, Siri provides functionality similar to Yelp, but with more personalized search results, and further provides follow-on concierge services once a selection is made from those search results.

While Apple is certain to do something with the company's acquisition, there is no indication that it will happen anytime soon. Apple acquired cloud music service LaLa in December of 2009, but it only recently announced its plans to leverage that technology into its own cloud services.