18 July 2011

Security firm says iPhone, iPad, iPod can be infected by single PDF file

GERMANY'S IT security agency says the software running Apple's iPhones, iPads and the iPod Touch has "critical weaknesses".

The Federal Office for Information Security said yesterday that clicking on an infected PDF file "is sufficient to infect the mobile device with malware without the user's knowledge" on several versions of Apple's iOS operating system.

It says the same could occur when opening a website that carries an infected PDF file, possibly opening the device to criminals spying on passwords, planners, photos, text messages, emails and even listen in on phone conversations.

The agency says Apple has not yet offered a patch to fix the problem.

Apple Germany spokesman Georg Albrecht said he was aware of the warning, adding that Apple would not comment on it.

ninemsn.com.au 7 Jul 2011

To the technologically unaware, this information posted by ninemsn.com.au may seem quite alarming, and distressful, but withing the technology circles, this is not only not news but also old news that is a few years old.

There is a community of 'hackers' that exploit the well know loopholes in Apple's operating system, that enables them to open up the locked down operating system.

This is known as 'jailbreaking'.

Apple is aware that if it does not plug the exploits in its operating system, sales revenue will increase, as people are aware that they can jailbreak their iPhone/iPod/iPad, if they desire so.

Contrary to any official statement, Apple unofficially supports its products being jailbroken, as their primary concern is revenue raised from the products sold.

Apple is in no hurry to 'patch' the exploits in its operating system.

This can be seen by Apple's actions rather that corpau's 'opinion'.

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