Your iPhone, iPad can easily be hacked: expert

Apple says it is working on fixing a security hole in the software of its iPhones, iPads and the iPod Touch that a Germany agency warned could be used by criminals to gain access to confidential data.

Apple spokeswoman Bethan Lloyd said on Thursday the company is "aware of this reported issue and developing a fix that will be available to customers in an upcoming software update."

She declined to specify when the update would be available.

On Wednesday, Germany's IT security agency had warned of "critical weaknesses" in Apple's iOS operating system.

Germany's Federal Office for Information Security warned that clicking on an infected PDF file "is sufficient to infect the mobile device with malware without the user's knowledge" on several versions of Apple's iOS operating system.

Next-generation iPhone

Apple plans to launch its next-generation iPhone during the third quarter of the year, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The newspaper, citing “people familiar with the situation,” said Apple has placed orders for key components to used in the new version of the iPhone and that it would be thinner and lighter than the iPhone 4.
Apple released the iPhone 4 in June 2010.

“Apple’s sales estimates of the new iPhone is quite aggressive,” the Journal quoted a source at one of Apple’s parts suppliers as saying.

“(Apple) told us to prepare to help the company meet its goal of 25 million units by the end of the year,” the source said.

“The initial production volume will be a few million units,” the source said, adding the supplier had been told to ship components to Apple’s Taiwan-based assembler Hon Hai in August.

Apple declined to comment on the Journal report.

Financial analysts have been predicting in recent weeks that Apple would begin production of a new iPhone in August and introduce it in September or October.