Apple fixes security flaw in iPhone, iPad software (Reuters)

A woman uses her Apple iPhone 4-smartphone for web-surfing during a photo opportunity on a street in Seoul

BOSTON (Reuters) – Apple Inc. has a hole in the software that the iPhone, iPod Touch music players which can enable hackers to remotely control these devices to take walks.

The security breach came to light nine days ago when the website www.jailbreakme.com released code that Apple customers can use the IOS operating system that runs these devices through a process called change "prison break. "

Some Apple customers choose to prison to break their devices so they can download and run programs that are not Apple-approved and use the iPhone handsets on networks of companies that are not Apple-approved.

The jailbreaking exploited a vulnerability in IOS code, which had not previously been published.Its performance has given hackers a project that criminals could use to build malicious software that exploited this vulnerability.

Now that security patch was released, Apple's customers are protected from any malicious code, provided that the installation of software updates on their devices.

Vulnerability in IOS software has the potential to affect millions of units that are central to the business of Apple.

Apple sold 25 million iPads since its launch last year. The company has sold over 18 million of its popular iPhone in the first three months of the year.

(Reporting by Jim Finkle, editing by Bernard Orr)