“Apple’s reputation for bullet-proof security could soon be blown away, with the most high-profile attack targetting [sic] its coolest device – the iPhone,” David Flynn reports for APC Magazine.
MacDailyNews Take: Ooh, “blown away.” How terrifying. Please. Stop. Too scary.
Flynn continues, “An iPhone virus, spyware or other piece of malicious software is almost inevitable. ‘It’s 80-90% likely that we will see malware targetting the iPhone,’ predicts Patrik Runald, Security Response Manager for F-Secure Security Labs.”
MacDailyNews Take: Never fear, Runald has a potential “solution” to this terrifying threat: When Apple ships the iPhone SDK, anti-virus software peddler F-Secure “might develop anti-virus and security software to protect the iPhone.” No word, yet, on exactly how much they hope to rip-off from iPhone owners for such so-called “protection.”
Full article here.
really? and how (pray tell) does he see this happening?
…or is it better to ignore petty details when your job depends on it?
MW “pay” ironic.
It’s better to build the anti-virus software first and then come up with viruses to sell the software.
Shouldn’t it be F***-Secure
– we won’t make a profit if things are secure unless we can con people in to thinking they aren’t.
Becuz, ya know, we’se hate for anyting to happen to youse iPhone, isn’t dat right, Tony?
Key word here is likely – as in ‘it is likely one day that man will land on Mars’
in other words we haven’t found one yet but we are happy to take your money if you’re worried. ( PS. we offer no money back guarantee to prevent anything – so why invest ? ).
I think they’re trying to trick us.
Quick. Run. (Magic Word: before). they. get. you.
Just buy a XXXL condom, the ones manufactured in Nigeria, most inner-city drug stores carry them, and place your iPhone inside.
Instant protection.
Whole article seems to be, yet again, an argument from ubiquity. Sad.
I wonder….. Do they offer anti-malware products for Windows Mobile based phones?
@Wade: That doesn’t make sense. I don’t think “ubiquity” is the word you were looking for…
“Apple’s reputation for bullet-proof security could soon be blown away” because I just made it up. Aren’t I great!
‘It’s 80-90% likely that we will see malware targetting the iPhone,” says Patrik.
Ya think? It’s 100% likely that it will be targeted. But what’s the chance that they will succeed? That’s the only thing that’s important here . . .
If I got it right, the iPhone SDK will be for paying developers and every app will be inspected by Apple.
The inner “chambers” of the OS are pretty secure, since different levels and “areas” is split up into 256-bit encrypted Disk Images which are verified against the Apple-provided checksum, so if the Image has been altered, next time it won’t be mounted. Easier to create a Mac OS X virus than an iPhone virus.
I betcha that it would be a virus that doesn’t affect the iphone, or OSX, but might hit window by being spread through the iPhone. If that’s the case, imagine: your windows computer gets infected, but your iphone and other macs don’t. Do you ditch your iphone, or do you buy a mac?
Wade, you keep using that word, “ubiquity”.
I don’t think it means what you think it means.
I am so scared.
David Flynn, has exposed F-Secure as a 80%-90% bounty-coder.
MS is far more busy these days hiring security teams to write viruses just so Vista looks ok. Wow!
Hahahahah