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Apple Recalled AC Adapter in Europe

January 29, 2016 By Germaine Hicks Leave a Comment

"Apple faulty adapter for wall plugs"

The faulty adapters have a serial number of 4 or 5 digits written on the slot.

All Mac and iOS users since 2003 were asked to visit the store for replacement parts because Apple recalled AC adapter in Europe, New Zealand, Argentina, Australia, Brazil and Korea. It seems that the reason for the recall was that the devices could malfunction and electrocute the user.
According to the Apple site in “very rare cases” the AC adapter with two prongs malfunctioned and created the risk of electrical shock upon touching. Due to this problem that was not observed until recently, the manufacturer decided to issue a voluntary recall of all the devices in order to avoid any situation in which the adapters actually hurt somebody.
The devices that were recalled voluntarily by Apple were issued between 2003 and 2015 and they accompanied Mac products and some iOS devices. They were also in the Apple Adapter Kit for World Travelers.
The company mentions on its official site that the adapters for wall plugs that were designed for use in Japan, China, the U.K. and the U.S. were not affected by the manufacturing problem. The same stands for the USB adapter from Apple.
Apple recalled the adapters for wall plugs made for the use in Europe, New Zealand, Argentina, Australia, Brazil and Korea after a test showed there might be a danger of malfunction that could lead to an electrical shock being applied to the user.
The company describes on its official website the four types of adapters for wall plugs that may be affected by the manufacturing issue. The devices in question are those that feature two round pins that are a bit thin and leaned inward made for the use in Continental Europe, those with thick round pins issued for Korea, the Australian angled blades that are a bit flat, also used in Argentina and New Zealand.
In order to identify them easier, Apple stated that the recalled devices have a serial number of 4 or 5 characters on the inside slot, where the power adapter attaches itself. The new models will feature an inscription of BRA, AUS, ARG or EUR on them.
There were no incidents involving the adapter reported, but the company decided to voluntarily issue the recall in order to prevent any incident from happening. Apple always put the client and his needs first, and since the company wants to maintain a high standard when it comes to customer service it will exchange all of the adapters free of charge.
For more additional information on how to exchange the power adapter, you can check out their official site.

Image source: www.apple.com

Filed Under: Tech & Science Tagged With: AC Adapter, apple, faulty adapter, ios, Mac, recall for the Apple adapters

Latest Chit-Chat and Scuttlebutt over iPhone 7

January 15, 2016 By Brian Galloway Leave a Comment

"Latest Chit-Chat and Scuttlebutt over iPhone 7 "

Here are the latest rumors regarding Apple’s new flagship.

While it is said that anticipation is the best part of a surprise, it would seem that Apple’s vow of silence has turned anticipation into speculation and speculation into full-fledged hatred. Many are the rumors roaming around the internet about Apple’s new flagship. Here are the latest chit-chat and scuttlebutt over iPhone 7.

To start with, let us just say that Apple managed to set the bar pretty high this time, and not in a good way. Since the company announced that it is planning to release a new model of smartphone, everyone jumped in, throwing in their two cents about the flagship’s specs.

Most of us would agree that Apple’s newest product has to be quite special in order to dazzle all its fans. And so, with Apple’s statement, a true battle of rumors has started over the new iPhone 7.

According to the tech giant, the smartphone should hit the market somewhere in winter 2016. It seems fair enough, considering that Apple never disappointed its fans. But then, something happened, something that made all Apple fans to turn their anticipation into hatred towards the tech giant.

The first rumor floating around the web is that Apple plans to give up on the 3.55-millimeter audio jack and replace it with something else.

In terms of design, Apple’s idea of dropping the audio jack seem pretty sound, considering the fact that the tech giant sought for a very long time to make the phone waterproof. Moreover, Apple might, in fact, take advantage of this opportunity and implement some long-due chances regarding the phone’s appearance.

iPhone 7 and, of course, iPhone 7 plus can become much thinner, leaving Apple to experiment with other third-party accessories. According to certain other rumors, the new smartphone will lose in terms of the vertical bezel, due to the removal of the audio jack.

Another rumor tied to Apple’s new product is that the tech big cat is also planning on dropping the lightning port. Of course, this would mean that the boys and girls working on design are looking for alternate means of charging.

Most of the users agree that if indeed Apple is really set on losing both the audio jack and the lightning port, then this could very well pave the way to other means of charging your phone and listening to music. It may be that Apple wants to go in the head over heels into this wireless charging business.

And, regarding the audio jack, Apple can v take advantage of the wireless headphones technology. This move seems to be highly plausible due to the fact that recently, the tech giant signed a contract with Beats.

Here are the latest chit-chat and scuttlebutt over iPhone 7.

In terms of musical experiences, it would seem that Apple is testing other venues. According to the same rumors floating around over the web, it would seem that Apple wants to outfit the new smartphones with high-quality speakers, thus decreasing the user’s need to buy headphones.

But wait, there’s even more. Headphones and speakers are great, but they are still old pieces of technology even if they received some cool features over time. Rumor has it that the rumors regarding wireless headphones from Beats and HQ speakers are not entirely true and that Apple is secretly working on a way to use the phone’s internal components to reflect sound waves.

If you’ve thought that there are a lot of rumors about the lightning port and the audio jack, wait until you read about the phone’s thickness and the screen, and this one is directly from the horse’s mouth, so to say.

According to the tech giant, the new line of the phone will be much thinner than their predecessor. iPhone 7 will feature a 4.7-inch touchscreen while the 7 plus model will be outfitted with a 5.5-inch screen. It seems plausible that the screen’s lengths should increase as the phone becomes much thinner.

Moreover, it would seem that the company is secretly working on a 4-inch model, which is rumored to launch somewhere in March 2016.

The 7c model will allegedly be waterproof if the phone maker goes ahead with its decision to remove the audio jack and charging port. Furthermore, according to Chinese tech blog, the smaller model that will come out in March will feature a 16GB internal storage unit, along with a 2GB Ram. Also, the phone will be powered by a 1.642 mAh Li-Ion battery.

Here is more on the latest chit-chat and scuttlebutt over iPhone 7.

Rumors have it that Apple is thinking of dropping the traditional LCD display for the 7 and the 7 plus. The LCD display will be replaced by an OLED display. The displays base on the organic light emitting diode is known to enhance the picture quality while keeping the power consumption at a minimum.

This fact seems to be confirmed by a report created by a Korean-based gadget blog. According to this report, other tech giants like LG and Samsung are on the verge of cutting down a deal with Apple regarding the use of OLED technology. Moreover, LG and Samsung have pooled a whopping 12.8 billion dollars, funds which will be used to create OLED-based displays.

Moving on, it is highly likely that Apple will want to make some changes regarding firepower. This means that the tech giant is seriously thinking about swapping the available processor with a more powerful one.

According to other rumors floating around the web, it would seem that the Apple will introduce the new A10 generation processors to the new iPhone. Moving further, the new generation of processors will be crafted and delivered to Apple by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.

Lastly, Apple seems keen of introducing the USB-Type C connector to the new iPhone. Besides that, the tech company is experimenting with 5 other types of connector.

Rumors about the new iPhone seem to pop out of nowhere over the web. It may very well be that users are fed up with Apple’s silence and want to take matters into their own hands.

Whatever the case maybe, we look forward to seeing Apple’s newest product in action.

Photo credits:www.wikipedia.org

Filed Under: Tech & Science Tagged With: apple, audio jack, iPhone 6c, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 plus, lightning port, tech giant

Apple Promises New TV Experience by This Summer

March 22, 2015 By Jason Leathers Leave a Comment

Apple Promises New TV Experience by This Summer

After years of promises to revamp the TV experience, Apple is reportedly prepared to launch its long-awaited new TV-device by the end of the summer.

Since 2009, Apple has taken a special interest in television, and has frequently said that viewers are currently having an out-of-date experience when it comes to watching TV. Tim Cook, the company’s CEO, described it as being “stuck in the seventies” and vouched that Apple would bring the future into television.

Apple plans to unveil a new updated version of its set-top streaming box at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) scheduled to take place in early summer. Besides the update, the iPhone giant said it will add a software development package that will enable the set-top box to gain access to App-Store.

Apple is thought to have the new device reflect its vision about how the TV experience should be like. Many analysts believe the company’s main objective is to obtain a share on a market that already includes stern competition from the likes of Amazon and Roku.

Some say however that the new overhauled TV device is just another step in Apple’s plan to take over people’s living rooms with its large array of complementary gadgets. By adding television to an offer that already includes music, apps and intelligent home devices, Apple intends to turn our free time home activities into a full digital experience.

Apple TV is for the moment the only streaming device known to be supporting the fresh HBO Now feature, due to be launched next month, which should give an edge over its competitors. The set-top box has also seen a significant discount recently, from $99 to $69, and it reportedly registered sales of more than 25 million units.

This marks a new trend in Apple’s strategy, which seems to be focusing more on television now than it used to in former CEO Steve Jobs’ days. The Apple co-founder never thought of television as more than a hobby, and this seems to reflect in the low attention the company has given to Apple TV since it first launched it, in 2007.

Another strategy Apple has in plan is to get involved in partnerships with large media companies like Fox, ABC and CBS in order to offer Apple TV customers exclusive streaming of their programs.

Hardware improvements will nonetheless be added to the new set-top box. Better storage capabilities than the current 8GB will be implemented, as well as a design overhaul for the device carcass. Even Siri, Apple’s voice control feature, might be included.

Filed Under: Headlines, Tech & Science Tagged With: apple, TV

No Interest in the Apple Watch for 69% of Americans

March 14, 2015 By Deborah Nielsen Leave a Comment

Apple WatchApple invested a tremendous amount of time and money to develop the Apple Watch, which by many, has been slated as the most technically advanced device launched. However, according to a new poll conducted by Reuters, 69% of people in the United States have no interest in buying the Apple Watch.

This “wearable computer” is loaded with features to include the “Guests” application. With this, users can pull up information about hotel reservations and even use the device to open doors at many top hotels to include the Westin, Starwood, and Sheraton, among others. However, one of the top features is Apple Pay that makes it possible to make payments to virtually hundreds of thousands of stores.

Other key features of the Apple Watch include easy navigation, fitness and health tracking, actionable notifications, remote control functions, passbook integration, touch communications, and Siri, a voice controlled virtual assistant. Considering all the unique things that consumers can use the Apple Watch for and the relatively competitive price, it is somewhat surprising to learn that a large number of people have no interest.

The poll, which took place from March 9 through 13, involved 1,245 respondents. Each person was asked eight questions regarding their opinions about using a smartwatch in general and then more specifically the Apple Watch.

As to the question about interest in the Apple Watch, 47.5% said there was zero interest while another 22.1% of respondents indicated only slight interest. Another question posed related to how respondents felt about this latest technology. For that, 6% were not sure what to think while 25% showed some degree of interest.

Although 46% of respondents thought the Apple Watch possessed a “cool factor”, 40.6% felt differently and 13% were undecided. Of the respondents, only 29% said that compared to any other smartwatch available, they preferred to purchase the Apple Watch but 54.3% did not share that same opinion. In fact, out of 209 respondents 13% preferred an iPhone over an Apple Watch.

Also revealed in the poll was that 52% of respondents felt that all smartphones were merely a temporary fad while 43% believed at some point the smartwatch would be as common as the smartphone. Among respondents, 53.5% went as far as saying that someday, smartphones would actually be replaced by wearable devices.

Overall, the poll indicates that basic demand for the Apple Watch will be from people who currently use iPhones with the broader market not quite ready to appreciate this new technology.

For Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, the results of the Reuters poll could pose a very serious challenge specific to marketing and promotion of the Apple Watch. If that many people are not interested in buying a watch loaded with new technology, Cook will need to come up with some very creative strategies to turn things around.

The Apple Watch will be available in a wide range of materials, colors, and embellishments. Based on the exact model, the price will start as low as $350 but for the Apple Watch Edition designed with an 18-gold case, the price jumps to $10,000 and higher.

Regardless of model, preorders of the Apple Watch start on April 10 with shipping to begin on the 24th. As part of the global launch, this wearable device will be available in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, and France.

Filed Under: Business, Headlines Tagged With: apple, Apple watch, iPhone, iWatch, launch, poll, preorder, Reuters, technology, wearable device

Apple wins iPod antitrust lawsuit

December 17, 2014 By Germaine Hicks Leave a Comment

apple-wins-ipod-lawsuit

Apple has won a hard fought antitrust law suit against the plaintiffs’ claims that the company created a monopolistic hegemony for rivals and raised the prices during the golden years of iPod.

An eight member jury gave the decision in favor of Apple during the decade old case after less than three hours of extensive discussions. The verdict released indicated that iTunes 7.0 which was released way back in 2006 was an enhanced improvement over the earlier editions of the software, rather than a plot to hinder sales of rivals. This antitrust case if found true could have cost Apple as much as $1 billion.

During the trial, held in Oakland federal court, plaintiffs claimed that Apple started a digital music monopoly by only allowing music to be downloaded on iPods from the iTunes store. The main center of their plea was iTunes 7.0 which blocked Harmony, a RealNetworks program that enabled users to download music from other sources instead of the regular iTunes store.

Patrick Coughlin, the Plaintiffs lawyer exclaimed that their team was planning to appeal against the verdict. He also stated that they at least got a chance to get in front of a jury which was more than they had hoped for.

Lawyers from Apple and the jurors declined to comment on the decision, as they left the courtroom. While Apple company rejoiced after hearing the outcome of the trial in their favor.

An Apple spokeswoman in a statement release said that every time we’ve updated those products, it was always done in the right spirit and in order to make the customer experience, a more cherishing one.

Filed Under: Tech & Science Tagged With: apple, Harmony, iPod, iTunes, iTunes 7.0, RealNetworks

IDC Report; Tablets Shipment Face Massive Decline in 2014

November 26, 2014 By Germaine Hicks Leave a Comment

decline in tablet sales

As per a new prediction from IDC, the tablet faced a dreadful year.  This year tablets performed pretty badly in the arena of electronics market.

NDP presented a report which demonstrates that sales decreased around 16 percent in the last few months.

Moreover, International Data Corporation (IDC) the tablet market grew merely 7 percent in 2014. Earlier, analysts recorded 53 percent sales in the tablet markets.  The high demand of iPads are the chief reason behind the decline in sales.

On the other hand, this year iPad also suffered from a full year decline. However, the drop in iPad sales failed to leave a mark as visible as tablets.

The release of big screen smartphones such a Samsung Galaxy S5 affected the market of tablets. People no longer feel the need of massive screens.  Hence, the seven inches mini tablet experienced worst sales decline this year.  The sales of such kind of tablets declined around 40 percent in 2014.

Ryan Reith, Director of IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Device Trackers stated that the initial years of tablet market were pretty similar to the smartphone years.  The smartphone companies launch a new version of their product every year. In comparison, the tablet manufacturers usually release new version after a long time period of 3 to 4 years.

Previously, the CEO of Apple said that the launch of new iPad Mini 3 and the iPad Air 2 would increase the sales to a large extent. Unfortunately, analysts witnessed nothing remarkable even after the launch of these Apple products.

Filed Under: Tech & Science Tagged With: apple, electronics market, IDC, International Data Corporation, ipad, iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 3, sales, shares, smartphones, Tablets

Whatsapp Announced End-To-End Encryption For Millions Of Android Users

November 18, 2014 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

whatsapp-end-to-end-encryption

After experiencing childhood in Soviet Ukraine in the 1980s, Jan Koum, founder of Whatsapp figured out how to mistrust the government and despise its reconnaissance. After he moved to the United States and made ultra-popular messaging framework decades later, he pledged that Whatsapp would never make snooping simple for anybody. Presently, Whatsapp is following through on that anti-snooping pledge at a phenomenal scale.

Whatsapp reported on Tuesday that it’s incorporating end-to-end encryption, a move up to its privacy assurances that makes it almost unthinkable for anybody to peruse clients’ messages—even the organization itself. Whatsapp will incorporate the open-source programming Textsecure, made by security concentrated non-profit Open Whisper Systems, which scrambles messages with a cryptographic key that just the client can get to and never leaves his or her gadget. The result is for all intents and purpose un-crackable encryption for countless phones and tablets that have Whatsapp installed — by a few measures the world’s biggest ever implementation of this standard of encryption in a messaging service.

Moxie Marlinspike, Open Whisper System’s inventor and a well known software developer in the cryptography group said, “Whatsapp is incorporating Textsecure into the most prominent messaging application on the planet, where folks exchange billions of messages a day. I believe this is the biggest end-to-end encryption deployment ever.”

Textsecure has already been silently encrypting Whatsapp messages between Android gadgets for a week. The new encryption plan implies Whatsapp messages will now fly out the distance to the beneficiaries’ gadget before being decrypted, instead of simply being encoded between the client’s gadget and Whatsapp’s server. The change is almost undetectable, however Marlinspike says Whatsapp will soon add a peculiarity to permit clients to check each others’ identities on the basis of their cryptographic key, a resistance against man-in-the-center attacks that interrupt conversations. Marlinspike said, “Regular clients won’t spot the difference. It’s completely frictionless.”

In its beginning stage, however, Whatsapp’s messaging encryption is constrained to Android, and doesn’t yet apply to group messages, images or video messages. Marlinspike says that Whatsapp intends to expand its Textsecure rollout into other gimmicks and other platforms, including Apple’s iOS, soon. He wouldn’t point out a particular time period, and Whatsapp staff members declined to remark on the new encryption characteristics. Marlinspike says, the Textsecure execution has been in the works for 6 months, since soon after Whatsapp was acquired by Facebook last February.

So, for now, just Whatsapp’s Android users alone symbolize a huge new client base for end-to-end encrypted messages: Whatsapp’s page in the Google Play store records more than 500 million downloads. Formerly, Textsecure had been installed on just around 10 million devices running the Cyanogen mod variant of Android and around 500,000 different gadgets.

The only encrypted messaging framework that analyzes in size is Apple’s iMessage, which likewise claims of using a rendition of end-to-end encryption. As compared to Textsecure, nonetheless, Apple’s iMessage security has a few genuine weaknesses. iMessage doesn’t track which gadgets’ cryptographic keys are connected with a certain client, so Apple could basically make another key the client wasn’t known of to begin interrupting his or her messages. Also, numerous clients innocently back up their stored iMessages to Apple’s iCloud, which renders any end-to-end encryption debatable. Furthermore, dissimilar to Textsecure, iMessage doesn’t utilize an element known as “forward secrecy” that makes a new encryption key for each message sent. This implies that any individual who gathers a client’s encoded messages and effectively breaks a client’s key can unscramble all their conversations, not only the one message that uses that key.

Whatsapp’s rollout of such solid encryption to countless clients may be a disliked move among governments around the globe, whose scrutiny it could make significantly more troublesome. No doubt, Whatsapp’s client base is global, with extensive populaces of clients in Europe and India. In any case Whatsapp organizer Jan Koum has been vocal about his resistance to chipping in with government snooping. “I grew up in a society where all that you did was snooping on, recorded, squealed on,” he told Wired UK recently. “No one ought to have the right to listen snoop, or you turn into a totalitarian state — the sort of state I fled as a kid to come to this country where you have democracy and opportunity of discourse. Our objective is to secure it.”

 

Filed Under: Tech & Science Tagged With: Android, apple, Cyanogen mod variant, end-to-end encryption, Europe, facebook, Forward secrecy, Google Play, icloud, iMessage, India, ios, Jan Koum, Marlinspike, messaging service, Textsecure, WhatsApp

Verizon sets up hot Pre-Black Friday deals

November 12, 2014 By Rebecca McGhee 1 Comment

verizon-set-up-black-friday-deals

Verizon is bringing in a lot of hot deals for pre black Friday. Yes cause if anyone is traveling on Thanksgiving Eve this year, Verizon wants to make their journey more special.

The nation’s largest wireless carrier just announced that it will be giving away loads of free goodies including movies, Wi-Fi, audio books, and streaming music on Thanksgiving Eve (Nov. 26), one of the busiest travel days of the year. And the best part is that one doesn’t need to be Verizon customer to get these amazing offers.

Verizon is working with a number of companies, like Amazon, Apple, Boingo Wireless, Condé Nast, Gogo Technologies, JetBlue, and Pandora to deliver these offers, which any wireless customer can enjoy to the fullest.

Verizon has named the day “Connection Day,” and have set up a website where one can preview all the deals, and sign up to get an alert when they’re available. Verizon customers who sign up will get an extra goodie that is 1GB of sharable data immediately applied to your account, plus another 1GB in your next billing cycle.

“As we approach the holiday season, we wanted to show how much we appreciate our customers,” Ken Dixon, vice president of marketing for Verizon Wireless, said in a statement. “We hope that not only our customers, but everyone, will take advantage of this day, a day to connect with family and friends, to learn something new about their device, or just to provide a little more entertainment during what can often be a hectic kick off to the holiday season.”

Filed Under: Tech & Science Tagged With: amazon, apple, Black Friday, Boingo Wireless, Condé Nast, Gogo Technologies, JetBlue, Pandora, Thanksgiving, Verizon, Verizon's pre black friday offers

Cyber security firm identifies new malware targeting Apple

November 7, 2014 By Jason Leathers Leave a Comment

cyber-security-firm-attack-apple-devices

Palo Alto Networks discovered a new form of malware that may have affected hundreds of thousands of Apple mobile device users, largely in China.

The cyber security provider has named the malware WireLurker and said it monitors devices connected by a USB cable to an infected computer and installs malicious applications onto the device. The malware steals a variety of information from mobile devices, but the goal of its creator isn’t clear yet.

Palo Alto Networks said that while the malware allows an attacker to collect “significant amounts of information from a large number of Chinese iOS and Mac OS systems,” none of it points to a particular motive.

The malware is “unlike anything we’ve ever seen” in terms of malware targeting Apple’s iOS and OS X systems, said Ryan Olson, a Palo Alto Networks intelligence director.

“The techniques in use suggest that bad actors are getting more sophisticated when it comes to exploiting some of the world’s best-known desktop and mobile platforms,” Olson said in a statement from the company.

Palo Alto Networks said late Wednesday that the malware is spreading through applications downloaded from Maiyadi App Store, a third-party Mac applications store in China. A total of 467 infected applications were downloaded more than 356,000 times over the past six months.

Shares of Apple Inc. fell 45 cents to $108.41 in morning trading Thursday, while Palo Alto Networks Inc. jumped 2 percent, or $2.06, to $104.58.

Filed Under: Tech & Science Tagged With: apple, Apple attacked by malware, china, Maiyadi App Store, Palo Alto Networks

WireLuker Hitting Apple’s Mobile Users: Malware Patches Releasing

November 6, 2014 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

New-malware-attacked-Apple-users

Recently, an online security researcher has warned that a new malware targeting Apple products is mostly affecting Chinese users.

WireLurker, a new malware, which is affecting Apple’s desktop and mobile operating systems seems to have originated in China and is mostly affecting devices there, US-based Palo Alto Networks said.

The malware spreads through apps uploaded from a third-party store and can steal information.

US-based Palo Alto Networks said, more than 400 infected apps have been downloaded over 350,000 times.

Ryan Olson, the company’s intelligence director, said “WireLurker is unlike anything we have ever seen in terms of Apple iOS and OS X malware.”

“When it comes to exploiting some of the world’s best-known desktop and mobile platforms, the techniques in use suggest that bad actors are getting more sophisticated,” he added.

WireLurker has the ability to transfer from Apple’s Mac computer to mobile devices through a USB cable. The malware was capable of stealing “a variety of information” from mobile devices, it infects and regularly requested updates from the attacker’s control server, the security firm said.

“This malware is under active development and its creator’s ultimate goal is not yet clear,” the firm added.

Right after the incident, Apple has issued a brief statement, “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,” Apple added.

Work Apps

Palo Alto Networks revealed that the WireLurker was first noticed in June when a Chinese firm Tencent’s developer realized there were apprehensive files and processes happening on his Mac and iPhone.

Further inquiries revealed a total of 467 Mac programs listed on the Maiyadi App Store had been compromised to include the malware, which in turn had been downloaded 356,104 times as of 16th Oct.

Infected software included popular games including Angry Birds, The Sims 3, Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

Once the malware was on the Mac, it communicated with a command-and-control server to check if it needed to update its code, and then waited until an iPhone, iPad or iPod was connected.

The security firm officials reveal that, when an iOS device connects with the malware, it would check if the device was jailbroken — a process used by some to remove some of Apple’s restrictions.

If it was jailbroken, WireLurker backed up the device’s apps to the Mac, where it repackaged them with malware, and then installed the infected versions back on to the iOS machine. However, if the device was not jailbroken – that is the case for most iOS devices – WireLurker took advantage of a technique created by Apple to enable businesses to install special software on their staff’s handsets and tablets.

Now the malware place infected apps on the device that had been signed with a mock “enterprise certificate” – code added to a product that is supposed to prove it comes from a trustworthy source.

Now, a permission request pops up the targeted iOS device on the user’s first attempt to run an infected app, to ensure the certificate acceptance by the device.

It simply asked for permission to run the app, but if the user clicked continue’ it installed code called a ‘provisioning profile’, which told the iOS device it could trust any other app that had the same enterprise certificate.

While this malware technique was not a new concept, it was the only known example of it being used to target non-jailbroken iOS devices in the wild, Palo Alto Networks said.

Once installed, the malware provide information about the iOS device to the hackers, including phone numbers from its Contacts app, and the user’s Apple ID.

Different versions of WireLurker also automatically installed new apps on the devices – including a video game and a comic book reader. Though, they are harmless; experts warn they could represent a test run for other more damaging software.

Prof Alan Woodward, from the University of Surrey said, “People have got very used to iOS being secure and there is a danger they may be complacent about the risk this presents.”

Under Attack

News of the attack comes after Apple’s iCloud storage service in China was attacked by hackers trying to steal user information last month.

Greatfire.org, Chinese web monitoring group said, “Hackers seized data and potentially gained access to passwords, messages, photos and contacts. They believed the Beijing government was behind the move.”

Although, the Chinese government denied the claims and was backed by China Telecom — state-owned internet provider, which said the claim was “false and baseless”.

China, which is the world’s biggest smartphone market and Apple saw its iPhone sales there jump 50% in the April to June quarter from a year earlier.

Palo Alto Networks has recommended some precautions for the users in order to minimize the risk of attack;

  • Do not download Mac apps from third-party stores
  • Do not jailbreak iOS devices
  • Do not connect their iOS devices to untrusted computers and accessories, either to copy information or charge the machines
  • Do not accept requests for a new “enterprise provisioning profile” unless it comes from an authorized party, for example the employer’s IT department

 

Filed Under: Tech & Science Tagged With: Angry Birds, apple, Battlefield, china, China Telecom, Chinese government, Greatfire.org, icloud, imac, ios, ipad, iPhone, iPod, Jailbreak, malware, OS X malware, Palo Alto Networks, Pro Evolution Soccer 2014, Prof Alan Woodward, Tencent, The Sims 3, USB cable, WireLurker

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