I recently wrote an article about the dangers of trojans, which are a type of “malware” somewhat similar to a virus.  In the article I mentioned how it’s important to keep your computer up-to-date as one important step to protecting it from dangerous software.

In response to my article I was sent a question by one of my computer newsletter subscribers, Sara, who wanted to know

“What about iPads? I’ve never seen an update for the iPad. Is there a way to protect it?”

  Well Sara,  iPads at this time have no similar threats. One of the benefits of the App Store is that if you only download free or paid apps from there, you’re at much lower risk of malware because Apple vets the apps before allowing them into the store. 

   This doesn’t mean it’s impossible for a threat to develop due to a bug or other security vulnerability.

   This is why updating an iPad is just as important as updating a regular computer.  If you’re up to date with iOS 5 then you will see when updates are available by the appearance of a red “badge” with a number (like 1 for one update) that appears on the Settings app icon. 

   The update can be installed by going into the Settings app, tapping General, then Updates. 

    If you still are running iOS 4 you’ll need to install the update through iTunes on your computer and then you’ll be able to update directly through the iPad from that point onwards. I strongly recommend staying up-to-date, so definitely do this if you’re still running iOS 4.

    I have a video lesson covering updating your iPad in my iPad tutorial app.  You can find the video lesson by opening the app, then tapping the house icon in the lower left to make sure you’re at the app’s home/main menu.   On the main menu tap iPad Lessons, then tap iPad Settings and swipe upward to look for “Settings: General: Software Updates”  and tap the play button to watch the steps.

   Hope that helps!

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Tags used for this post:

ipad malware · ipad security · ipad trojan · ipad trojan horse · ipad virus · software updates