Apple made an unusual decision on Wednesday, April 1, and released a new version of iOS 18.7.7 to combat a new hacking toolkit called DarkSword. Now, more devices, like the iPhone 16e, can download the update to protect themselves from the toolkit without having to update to iOS 26. This update was only available on iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR models when it was originally released March 24.

To download iOS 18.7.7, go to Settings > General > Software Update. If the update is available on your device, you should see a prompt to download and install it. 

«We enabled the availability of iOS 18.7.7 for more devices on April 1, 2026, so users with Automatic Updates turned on can automatically receive important security protections from web attacks called DarkSword,» Apple wrote in the update’s vulnerabilities notes. 

Apple’s decision to release this update is odd because the company usually recommends updating your device to the most recent iOS version for the most protection, rather than issuing an update to an older version. But the company is still recommending people download iOS 26 to protect their device against DarkSword.

«If possible, update to the latest version of iOS 26, which contains the strongest security protections,» Apple wrote. 

About one-fifth of iPhones from the past four years are still running a version of iOS 18, according to Apple’s own data. That means those devices are vulnerable to DarkSword, which could access data on your device, like your messages and crypto wallets. 

DarkSword attacks do appear to be limited to people outside the US, specifically in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Ukraine, according to Google’s Threat Intelligence Group. But TechCrunch found the toolkit publicly available on GitHub. So it could be easier for more malicious actors to deploy DarkSword.

«Public availability of this kit is extremely worrisome given the high number of remaining active vulnerable devices,» Christoph Hebeisen, director of security intelligence research for the firm Lookout, told CNET’s Katelyn Chedraoui. «Opportunistic attacks using this exploit kit appear very likely.»

So if you can’t update to iOS 26 because your device doesn’t support it — or you just don’t want to update to the latest version — you should download iOS 18.7.7 now. Seriously, please do it. And if your phone doesn’t support iOS 18, Apple suggests Lockdown Mode to keep your device safe.

For more iOS news, here’s what to know about iOS 26.4 and all the tips and tricks in iOS 26 now.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? When you solve it, the puzzle makes a colorful shape and spells out a very California phrase. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Like this lyric: «My heart is yours to fill or burst / To break or bury or wear as jewelry»
Answer: EMO

4A clue: Scrooge’s cry before «humbug»
Answer: BAH

7A clue: «___ appetit!»
Answer: BON

8A clue: «Te ___» («I love you,» in Spanish)
Answer: AMO

9A clue: Use camouflage
Answer: BLENDIN

11A clue: Big name in fluorescent paint
Answer: DAYGLO

12A clue: Transmission setting for a steep hill, maybe
Answer: LOWGEAR

13A clue: Egg cells
Answer: OVA

14A clue: GPS suggestion: Abbr.
Answer: RTE

15A clue: Like many Grindr users
Answer: GAY

16A clue: Go on dates with
Answer: SEE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Recede, as the tide
Answer: EBB

2D clue: Country between Ukraine and Romania
Answer: MOLDOVA

3D clue: Message in Connections when you almost get the category, but not quite
Answer: ONEAWAY

4D clue: Mammals whose name is a synonym of «pesters»
Answer: BADGERS

5D clue: «Sorry, has the meeting started already?»
Answer: AMILATE

6D clue: Award recipient
Answer: HONOREE

10D clue: The N.F.L.’s Giants, on scoreboards
Answer: NYG

12D clue: Makeshift seat at a campfire
Answer: LOG

OpenAI has spent the last few weeks seemingly trying to refocus on using AI for business instead of what execs dubbed «side quests,» dumping its AI video generator and its plans for an adult-themed chatbot. So this week, of course, the company announced it’s jumping into the media business.

OpenAI said it was acquiring Technology Business Programming Network, better known as TBPN, which runs a 3-hour show streamed on weekdays that delves into the biggest topics — and brings in the biggest names — in tech business.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

OpenAI said it added TBPN to «help create a space for a real, constructive conversation about the changes AI creates,» Fidji Simo, CEO of AGI deployment at OpenAI, wrote in a message to employees shared by OpenAI. Simo said the company also wanted to take advantage of TBPN’s marketing prowess. «They have a strong pulse on where the industry is going, their comms and marketing ideas have really impressed me,» Simo said.

TBPN launched in October 2024 and has been compared to ESPN in how it covers tech — two guys at a big desk with news, analysis, commentary and banter about topics such as AI, crypto, startups and the defense industry. The show’s two hosts and co-founders, Jordi Hays and John Coogan, have had some of tech’s biggest names in studio — OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, entrepreneur Mark Cuban and Salesforce’s Marc Benioff, to name some.

The show is streamed live from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. PT Monday through Friday on YouTube and X from the Ultradome, a studio on a Hollywood film lot. The show has 70,000 viewers daily and looks set to make more than $30 million in revenue this year, according to the Wall Street Journal.

TBPN co-host Hays acknowledged in a statement that the show has been «critical» of the AI industry.

«After getting to know Sam and the OpenAI team, what stood out most was their openness to feedback and commitment to getting this right,» Hays said. «Moving from commentary to real impact in how this technology is distributed and understood globally is incredibly important to us.»

In an era of fast-moving media consolidation, it’s a fair question — can TBPN keep saying what they really think, even if that ruffles OpenAI’s feathers? In her statement, Simo said OpenAI wants the show to maintain its «editorial independence.»

«TBPN will continue to run their programming, choose their guests, and make their own editorial decisions,» she said. «That’s foundational to their credibility, and it’s something we’re explicitly protecting as part of this agreement.»

Altman, OpenAI founder, echoed that sentiment with a posting on X. also calling TBPN his «favorite tech show.»

«We want them to keep that going and for them to do what they do so well,» Altman posted. «I don’t expect them to go any easier on us, am sure I’ll do my part to help enable that with occasional stupid decisions.»

The acquisition prompted some criticism and concern on social media as people wondered whether TBPN could really maintain editorial independence.

«Reporters doing accountability journalism are getting mowed down by mass layoffs & are now almost extinct — while the targets of their accountability reporting are giving hundreds of millions of dollars to pundits,» David Sirota, a longtime columnist and founder of the investigative news outlet The Lever, posted on X. «What stage of the media dystopia is this?»

TBPN will be under the supervision of OpenAI’s Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane, who joined the company in October 2024 and is the company’s main strategist in working with government officials. Decades ago, he worked in the White House of President Bill Clinton — helping to handle the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky investigations — and as press secretary to Vice President Al Gore. Lehane also set up a procrypto super PAC called Fairshake that helped defeat anticrypto candidates during the 2024 elections and helped Airbnb battle housing regulations.