A new family of malware that targets Apple devices, including iPhones and iPads, has recently been revealed by security company Palo Alto Networks, Inc.
According to the company, the family of malware, dubbed as "WireLurker," targets Apple's desktop and mobile operating systems and have been doing so for half a year. The malware has so far infected more than 450 OS X applications in a third-party app store in China, which have been downloaded more than 350,000 times over the past six months. Since the malware can hop from one device to another via USB, it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of devices have already been affected.
In a post in the company's website, the security experts outlined information about this new threat. Part of the post reads:
We believe that this malware family heralds a new era in malware attacking Apple's desktop and mobile platforms based on the following characteristics:
- Of known malware families distributed through trojanized / repackaged OS X applications, it is the biggest in scale we have ever seen
- It is only the second known malware family that attacks iOS devices through OS X via USB
- It is the first malware to automate generation of malicious iOS applications, through binary file replacement
- It is the first known malware that can infect installed iOS applications similar to a traditional virus
- It is the first in-the-wild malware to install third-party applications on non-jailbroken iOS devices through enterprise provisioning
According to the company, WireLurker can attack devices, even non-jailbroken ones, by using a combination of techniques, including customized encryption, file hiding, complex code structure, among others.
The goal for the attack is yet unknown, but the Silicon Valley company says that the malware has the capability to steal various information. New York Times reports that the WireLurker creators can read text messages in iMessage and get contacts from the address book from an infected device.
For protection, consumers are advised to: not download third-party apps from untrustworthy sources; not pair one's iOS device with — or power it through — unknown computers, or even use untrustworthy accessories; make sure that antivirus and antimalware protection are current; not jailbreak the device (otherwise, make sure that precautions are taken, such as not putting private information on that particular device).
Apple has reportedly been already informed of the threat, but representatives have yet to comment on this latest issue.
