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Backdoor Malware Targets Apple iPad

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the that-didn't-take-long dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Apple iPad users are being warned of an email-borne threat which could give hackers unauthorised access to the device. The threat arrives via an unsolicited email urging the recipient to download the latest version of iTunes as a prelude to updating their iPad software. Apart from opening up a backdoor, it also tries to read the keys and serial numbers of the software installed on the device, and logs the passwords to any webmail, IM or protected storage accounts."

12 of 196 comments (clear)

  1. Wrong wrong wrong... by richy+freeway · · Score: 5, Informative

    This DOESN'T infect the iPad at all. It targets the idiots who bought an iPad but it is a WINDOWS virus.


    See here for further details : http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/26/ipad_backdoor/

    1. Re:Wrong wrong wrong... by drewhk · · Score: 4, Informative

      Why modded Flamebait??

      http://news.bitdefender.com/NW1493-world--iPad-Users-Targeted-by-Backdoor-Dissembled-as-iTunes-Update.html

    2. Re:Wrong wrong wrong... by alphad0g · · Score: 5, Informative

      I concur. Article is incorrect and Slashdot just regurgitated it. At least the blog post by the original author is correct. A Windows trojan - nothing else.

    3. Re:Wrong wrong wrong... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Just because you can't think differently in a manner identical to all the other fruits, doesn't make them idiots...

    4. Re:Wrong wrong wrong... by dskzero · · Score: 4, Funny

      Wrong thread, pal, this is for bashing apple fanbois, there is a thread about MS losing money over there.

      --
      Oblivion Awaits
  2. Re:Write misleading headlines much.. by richy+freeway · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's not just the headline, it's the summary and the article too!

  3. Re:exactly why... by lord_rotorooter · · Score: 5, Informative

    This does not actually affect the IPad but rather is an attack to get Windows users to install an "update" for ITunes. The "update" is malware for Windows and is targeted at people who own an IPad and sync it with Windows.

  4. Re:exactly why... by TheKidWho · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yes well, this virus is infecting a Windows PC, so much for that.

  5. Re:Write misleading headlines much.. by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Reminds me of that line from "Absence of Malice" that "everything they said was accurate but none of it was true".

  6. Disappointed in /. by RemoWilliams84 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm disappointed that there have been no Apple User/Backdoor jokes in this story yet. I'll check back in an hour. Don't kill my faith in /.

    --
    "I don't have to think. I only have to do it. The results are always perfect, but that's old news." - Meat Puppets
  7. Updates *are* done over USB by danaris · · Score: 4, Informative

    Note that there’s no legitimate reason that you’d ever need to connect the iPad to a second computer to update it. It has its own internet connection.

    Now, I don't have an iPad, so I don't know how they're updated, but the iPhone and iPod touch, which also have their own internet connections, get software updates through iTunes, over USB.

    This is how it's always been done.

    Dan Aris

    --
    Fun. Free. Online. RPG. BattleMaster.
  8. Re:Write misleading headlines much.. by quadelirus · · Score: 4, Informative

    Not just the summary. The article itself is misleading (it doesn't once mention that the virus effects Windows PCs and not iPads). This one: http://www.tgdaily.com/mobility-features/49519-nefarious-ipad-virus-masquerades-as-itunes-update is slightly better, as it doesn't fail to mention the fact that Windows PCs are being infected and not iPads. The iPad is only the phishing-hook to get a user to click the link (something like: you need to update your iTunes for your new iPad, click here to do so...)