New iOS malware spreads through infected desktop software

[techbeck]

iPhone users are usually considered safe from malware, but a new report from Palo Alto Networks suggests that reputation may be about to change. Palo Alto's researchers have discovered a bug called Wirelurker, which the company says may have already impacted hundreds of thousands of users. The bug is primarily spreading through the Maiyadi App Store, a third-party source for OS X software in China, and researchers estimated the infected apps have been downloaded 356,104 times already. Once the computer is infected, Wirelurker spreads to iOS devices that connect over USB, rewriting existing programs on the device through binary file replacement. It's the first such bug that can infect iPhones that haven't been jailbroken, using the rarely examined enterprise provisioning system, intended to allow large companies to deploy software without going through the app store approval process.

 

Jonathan Zdziarski @JZdziarski Follow

Everything I've read so far in the WireLurker white paper seems not only completely plausible, but easy to pull off with libimobiledevice.

 

More....

http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/5/7164839/new-ios-malware-targets-devices-through-chinese-app-stores

 

[DeadEndAccount]

Which will be traced back to some idiot downloading pirated software or software from some dodgy third party website. Honestly - it is like saying, "if I throw this toaster in the bath I'll get electrocuted therefore it is the toaster companies fault".

[adrynalyne]

Which will be traced back to some idiot downloading pirated software or software from some dodgy third party website. Honestly - it is like saying, "if I throw this toaster in the bath I'll get electrocuted therefore it is the toaster companies fault".

That could be said for just about every case of malware on Windows too.

[DeadEndAccount]

That could be said for just about every case of malware on Windows too.

 

Agreed - it has been years since Windows has had the sort of attacks where merely connecting to the internet would make one vulnerable. At some point you'd think that people would start taking responsibility for their web surfing habits.

[The_Observer]

Wait hasn't this been fixed??? Apple revoked the cerft it was using to install onto iOS devices from OS X.