Apple has released its very first automated security update for Mac computers in a bid to protect them from bugs that have been newly identified by security experts.
The bugs could possibly be exploited by hackers to be able to remotely control affected computers, using software and methods that are available to the public.
The security update software was pushed out by Apple on Dec. 22 to address critical security flaws found within a component of the company's OS X operating system for computers.
According to Bill Evans, spokesman for Apple, the component being patched up is the network time protocol, or simply NTP, which is utilized to synchronize clocks within computer systems.
The bugs were publicized through security bulletins that were released by the Department of Homeland Security on Dec. 19, in partnership with the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute. It was Carnegie Mellon that identified Apple as one of the dozens of tech companies whose devices and products could be affected by the vulnerability, though the bug was first discovered by researchers from the security team of Google, namely Stephen Roettger and Neel Mehta.
For past security updates, Apple released the software through the regular update system, which usually requires actions to be performed by the user. However, for the security updates that delivered the fixes to the NTP vulnerability, Apple decided to push them out automatically using the technology that Apple introduced a couple of years ago. However, this was the first time that the technology was used.
Apple said that it automatically pushed out the update to its users to be able to protect their customers in as fast a time as possible because of the possible damage that can be caused by the vulnerabilities.
"The update is seamless," Evans said. "It doesn't even require a restart."
Evans added that Apple has not been informed of any instance that a Mac computer without the security update was targeted by hackers exploiting the NTP vulnerability.
The list of companies and devices affected by the vulnerability is lengthy because NTP is an open source protocol, which means that all manufacturers are free to use the component without need to pay any royalties to any other company.
Apple has been required to address several vulnerabilities over the year, with one of the more recent ones being the Shellshock bug. While Evans previously said that the majority of the users of OS X are not affected by the bug, Apple still released a security update for the bug that had the potential to be even worse than the Heartbleed bug.
