Malware

A new breed of malware has been found infecting Macs and iOS devices, spread primarily by compromised apps found in the Chinese Maiyadi App Store. Researchers at Palo Alto Networks have reported that hundreds of thousands of users could be affected. Named WireLurker, the malware also has a Windows variant and could be the largest scale infection of its type.

WireLurker lurks on a computer and when an iOS device is connected via USB, it attacks the mobile device. Private data such as messages and contacts can be compromised. iOS devices do not need to be jailbroken to be vulnerable. While WireLurker may not be a concern for those who never use third-party app stores, checking for infection is relatively simple. Apple has already taken steps to combat the malware by blocking the affected apps.

Malware targeted at iPhones doesn't come around too often, however this doesn't mean it's nonexistent. The latest threat, dubbed "Unflod Baby Panda" targets jailbroken iOS devices, collecting Apple ID and password information and sending it to servers in China. The malware only affects jailbroken devices, and is thought to have originated on unofficial Chinese repositories distributing pirated apps.

First off, if your iPhone is not jailbroken, go play Hearthstone and forget about Unflod forever. Jailbreakers will want to follow the steps below to check for infection. If the device is not affected by Unflod, users can keep it that way by avoiding pirated apps and untrusted repos on Cydia. Should Unflod Baby Panda exist on your iOS device, continue reading to clean the malware and secure your Apple ID.

Apple has pulled a malicious app from its App Store after the Russian security firm Kaspersky Lab reported that it was a Trojan that uploads a user's contact info to the developer's servers.

"At first glance, this seemed to be an SMS worm spread via sending short messages to all contacts stored in the phone book with the URL to itself," explained Kaspersky Lab‘s Denis Maslennikov. "However, our analysis of the iOS and Android versions of the same application showed that it’s not an SMS worm but a Trojan that uploads a user’s phonebook to remote server. The ‘replication’ part is done by the server – SMS spam messages with the URL to the application are being sent from the remote server to all the contacts in the user’s address book.”

The application mostly attacked Russian users, but it was available worldwide via the App Store and Google Play for Android devices. Kaspersky Lab reminded everyone that "there have not been any incidents of malware inside the iOS Apple App Store since its launch 5 years ago."

There's a reason you've never heard of the iPhone 5GS. The only place it exists is within a malicious email being sent to PC users around the globe. This message purports to announce the next Apple iPhone but is merely a vehicle to spread the Mal/Zapchas-A trojan. Luckily for Mac owners the scam message only targets Windows users at this time.

Security group Sophos has identified the infected email and makes the point that whenever there's a buzz surrounding an Apple media event, someone crafts a nefarious email to circulate to the masses. This particular message looks pretty fake as seen in the photo above. Not only does it show two different phone models, but the text and grammar aren't quite right.