[Qgis-user] Risk of security vulnerability using older version of QGis

[Max]

Dear QGis Developer Community,

because I really hope for expert advice on the topic I eventually sent my request on this list.

As a private and amateur end-user of QGis I would really like to know if not running the latest version of QGis is a (serious) security risk for my Computer?

I am still using QGis 3.22.14 Bialowieza on my Apple MacBook M1 (which is running the latest version of mac OS).

Because of concerns regarding the bug-less performance and compatibility of my old project files (albeit potentially unjustified) and the inconvenience resulting from a missing built in Update feature of QGis, I have not installed the latest version of the program yet.

As I am quite new to Mac computers and (as many people convinced me it is not necessary) I am not using extra anti-virus software, I have serious concerns if an older version of QGis could be a security risk for my computer.

What made me turn to you and eventually write this email, hoping for advice, was a system notification that was displayed today while working with QGis. The notification asked me if I would like to grant QGis access to screen and system audio recording. As I am really not sure which features of QGis could have cause the request for access to screen and audio data, I‘m now seriously concerned about mal-ware.

I couldn’t find anything useful about my concerns but obviously this has also happened to other QGis users (https://www.reddit.com/r/QGIS/comments/s1be86/why_did_qgis_ask_to_record_my_screen/)

I would be very thankful for some expert advice if this notification is normal for QGis to ask for or if this should be cause for concern.
I would also really appreciate some general information on if (an in case, how) using an older version of QGis could be a security risks.

Thank you very much in advance and best wishes 
Max
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