While Apple’s devices are relatively free from virus attacks unlike hardware that runs on a rival platform, this does not mean that there are no security loopholes to exploit on Apple’s side, either. Virus Bulletin has revealed that more than 75,000 iOS devices have already been infected by a malware that is better known as AdThief, or in other circles, “Spad”.
Of course, this phenomenon has happened only to those iOS device users who have already jailbroken their devices. When one jailbreaks a device, one would then have ignored the security risks that come with the territory, although the upper hand would be being able to gain a higher level of functionality and customization with a particular device.
However, with the latest AdThief development, it does make one wonder whether going through such a motion is going to be worth the price of admission. Researcher Axelle Apvrille claims that the AdThief malware will target different advertising SDKs, where it modifies the developer or promotion ID in order to match that of the hacker. With this technique, the malware can then “earn” all of the revenue that has been generated from the infected devices, through advertisements alone.
So far, 15 advertising SDKs, Google Mobile Ads and Weibo included, have already fallen under the effect of the AdThief malware.