iPhone apps could steal data
By Gina on February 9, 2010 | Security basics, iPhone, Black Hat Conference, iPhone security
There are more than 42 million iPhones out there. This makes the device an attractive target for malware creators. And this should make Apple take iPhone security more seriously. According to security expert Nicolas Seriot, it’s relatively easy to make an application which could spy on user.
Seriot’s presentation at the Black Hat Conference in DC revealed how vulnerable iPhone users are and how little is done to prevent data theft. Apple is kinda proud of its sandboxing technology which limits iPhone apps to using system resources. However, the permissions and deny/allow rules used at the kernel level are not strict enough.
Approximately 8 percent of iPhone are jailbroken. As the researcher pointed out, users of jailbroken phones are more likely to fall for this type of malware because they can install more other software besides what’s in the App Store. However, fraudulent apps sometimes makes to the official Apple store as well.
Theoretically, iPhone apps shouldn’t be able to access information used by other apps. The reality is quite different. Seriot demonstrated an application that can steal email addresses, user login and server information. Summary on used Wi-Fi networks can be accessed easily too if a device connects to Wi-Fi. The other data that can be stolen includes latest searches on YouTube and Safari and also the location saved in cache of iPhone maps app.
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