With today’s release of iOS 9.3, Apple has patched up a bug in the iMessage encryption, protecting phones and their messages from a security hole that could compromise pictures and videos sent through the application.

The flaw was discovered by security researchers at Johns Hopkins University, although they’re withholding the exact details of the flaw until after iOS 9.3’s release. If they spell out the details now, devices everywhere will be at risk until they download and install the update, which anyone who’s worked in IT can assure you can take ages.

With this security hole, hackers can break the encryption on photo and videos sent over iMessage. This includes messages sent through iPhones, iPads, and even Mac computers running the OS X platform, so that’s a lot of information being passed around, from family photos to personal videos.

While the problem was partially fixed in iOS 9, according to a statement from Apple, 9.3 is expected to completely resolve the issue, and will be made available after the “iPhone SE” media event.

This comes at an important time for Apple, particularly regarding security, since the debate over allowing a backdoor into the San Bernardino shooter’s phone continues. However, the flaw is unlikely to have been of any help to the government’s investigations, although Apple notes that this is evidence that there are ways the government could get into the device without requiring Apple to create a backdoor.

The update news might go by unnoticed and ignored in the hubbub over iPhone SE, but it’s still an essential patch for iOS users. The 9.3 update can be accessed on iPhones by going to Settings -> General -> Software Update, or on Mac computers from the App Store.

See more coverage on the iPhone SE here.

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