The bad news: tons of Apple accounts have been stolen through iOS malware. The good news: it only attacks phones that have been “jailbroken”—well, unless your phone is jailbroken. Then it’s all bad news.
If you just had to deck out your phone with 3rd party custom options, classic video game emulators, and other non-Apple-sanctioned software, there’s a chance your account is being used by others to download “free” software … at your expense. The software responsible for this specific attack is known as KeyRaider, a piece of software from Chinese jailbreaking sites that has spread across the Internet and stolen close to a quarter of a million Apple accounts.
Computer security company Palo Alto Networks says this is “the largest known Apple account theft caused by malware.”
While some users have basically been unwittingly gifting apps to those who’ve victimized them, others have reported to PAN that their phones have been locked with demands for ransom. If your phone is jailbroken, now is probably the time to change your password, as the details of your account may be readily available to thieves online. Now may also be the time to rethink whether the risk of deliberately lowering your phone’s security was worth it just to play Pokémon on it and use the Zelda secret chime as your unlock sound. (Admittedly a tough call.)
(via CNN, image via Matt Zimerman)
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