By JAIME LUTZ

Most recent Apple Inc. products - including iPhones, iPods and iPads - have a security flaw that makes them vulnerable to hackers, according to a announcement the company made on its website Friday.

The problem exists for anyone using an iPhone 4 or a later model, the iPod touch and the iPad 2, 3 and Air.

The security risk stems from a problem with encrypted data sent from a device over a wireless internet connection. On wireless internet that's broadly accessible ­- such as the wireless in a coffee shop or subway station - hackers can intercept highly-sensitive information like email, Facebook messages and credit card information.

To ward off these hackers, Apple released software patches and updates for its operating systems.

Brad Garrett, a former FBI agent, told ABC News that consumers "need to have up-to-date software on their iPhone, on their iPad, on their Mac."

"The reality today is that there are vulnerabilities," he said.

Apple would not comment on how or when it learned of the security flaws in its Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), or if the flaw was currently being exploited, saying on its website that "Secure Transport failed to validate the authenticity of the connection."

: A Chinese customer looks at his iPhone 4S with a iPad in other hand in the newly opened Apple Store in Wangfujing shopping district on Oct. 20, 2012 in Beijing, China. (Feng Li/Getty Images)