Apple was forced to auto update every OS X machine connected to a network after Google researchers found a flaw in the code, ripe for exploitation by hackers.
A group of Google researchers found a flaw in OS X which could allow hackers to execute malicious code remotely in most iMacs. This flaw was a huge deal for Apple, because it could eventually lead to remote DDoS attacks on UNIX-based systems such as Linux, and their very own OS X.
Apple started working on a fix right away, and once it came out asked users to update “as soon as possible” yet after the US government themselves flagged it and deemed it a threat, Apple instead opted for forcing Yosemite, Mountain Lion and Mavericks to update by using a never before seen OS X update system that doesn’t require any user input, and doesn’t even require computers to restart.
Patrick Nielsen of Kaspersky explained at Engadget that this is a very widespread flaw, installed on on “everything from consumer gadgets to critical infrastructure”. Furthermore, firewalls don’t typically block NTP servers attacks, which could be bad news for corporate networks especially. So now you know: update, now.
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