The Apple bubble of safety was shortly threated as news of malware WireLurker and Masque Attack surfaced online. See how Apple responds to this danger, saving iOS and OS users from completely losing confidence to the almost impenetrable system.
Recently, Apple iOS and OS were threatened as news of a new malware directly created to take on the security of Apple iOS and OS surfaced online. Palo Alto Network reveals "WireLurker" malware that was released in China specifically to target Apple iOS and OS systems.
According to the research, "'WireLurker' monitors any iOS device connected via USB with an infected OS X computer and installs downloaded third-party applications or automatically generated malicious applications onto the device, regardless of whether it is jailbroken." And this is just a limited form of the bigger Apple iOS and OS threat, known as the "Masque Attack".
Although discovered months before the "WireLurker" incident, the "Masque Attack" was revealed by FireEye mobile secury researchers in July 2014. According to FireEye, "Masque Attacks can replace authentic apps, such as banking and email apps, using attacker's malware through the Internet. That means the attacker can steal user's banking credentials by replacing an authentic banking app with a malware that has identical UI." The report mentions that this affects iOS 7.1.1., 7.1.2., 8.1., 8.1. and 8.1.1. beta.
Apple quickly responds to the "WireLurker" and "Masque Attack" threats to its widely used Apple iOS and OS devices. The official statement on the threats and attacks of "WireLurker" and "Masque Attack" on Apple iOS and OS reads: "We are aware of malicious software available from a download site aimed at users in China, and we've blocked the identified apps to prevent them from launching. As always, we recommend that users download and install software from trusted sources."
Reports also reveal that as long as the Apple iOS and OS devices are secured-meaning the pre-installed security are intact and working, malware threats like "WireLurker" and "Masque Attack" shouldn't be a big issue.
