Why cybercriminals target Apple devices

Apple attack!

Time was Apple users could look down with smugness on users of other platforms, secure that their devices were safe from cyberattack. If ever that was true, it is certainly not the case today.  

This week CSO reported that hackers are targeting Apple users in an ‘extremely sophisticated attack.’ The bugs, found in Apple’s CoreAudio and RPAC components, enabled code execution and memory corruption attacks. 

Readers of CSO wanted to know from Smart Answers: why would hackers target Apple more than other platforms? The answer is they probably don’t. And if they do it is because the opportunity is there, and the prize worth getting.  

Smart Answers says that despite being considered one of the most secure platforms, Apple’s security measures have driven cybercriminals to find more devious ways to undermine iOS and Mac security. However, there is no explicit evidence indicating the frequency of cyberattacks on Apple devices compared to other devices. 

Find out: Why are Apple devices frequently targeted in cyberattacks? 

AI fails

You may have heard: AI is kind of a big deal around here. So much so that this week we reported on the way that CIOs are increasingly dumping in-house POCs for commercial AI. 

We said that high failure rates and low returns of homegrown AI pilots are accelerating a shift to commercial, off-the-shelf solutions as software vendors roll more AI functionality into their products.  

This prompted the readers of CIO magazine to ask Smart Answers just how many of those AI projects fail. The answer: pretty much all of them. Culling insights from our decades of human reporting, Smart Answers has some sobering stats. One study suggests a 90% failure rate for custom-built AI app projects, and another cites more than a third of CIOs saying none of their AI projects has made it to prime time. 

Find out: What percentage of custom-built AI apps fail to reach production? 

AI wins!

And yet: this tide is not for turning. This week we listed out the most used generative AI tools within enterprise organizations. From AI chatbots and virtual assistants to audio and video generators, these are the frontrunner genAI tools in use today. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, our readers were interested in the impact such tools will have on developer jobs. Specifically: does more use of AI chatbots mean more jobs creating AI chatbots? Reassuringly, the answer is yes. More than that, you’ll have to ask Smart Answers. 

Find out: Will increased AI chatbot use create more AI chatbot developer jobs?  

About Smart Answers 

Smart Answers is an AI-based chatbot tool designed to help you discover content, answer questions, and go deep on the topics that matter to you. Each week we send you the three most popular questions asked by our readers, and the answers Smart Answers provides.  

Developed in partnership with Miso.ai, Smart Answers draws only on editorial content from our network of trusted media brands—CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World—and was trained on questions that a savvy enterprise IT audience would ask. The result is a fast, efficient way for you to get more value from our content.