Tech experts discovered a new cyber virus, named YiSpecter, which can infect all jail broken and non-jail broken iPads and iPhones. The malware is capable to do these damages by using a variety of novel methods.
The YiSpecter virus is uncommon from different point of views, according to online security experts. This is because it represents the first malware in Apple’s ecosystem that uses the iOS’ own APIs. These small programs are pieces of data that remain undocumented by the company, probably because they are not offered for general use.
What is problematic about this specific malware is that hackers use many personal APIs to affect iPhones or iPads that have set up applications from App Store. According to specialists in security systems, more than 100 applications in the App Store have used invasive APIs and have broken Apple’s infamously tight rule evaluation.
This means that Apple’s fighting strategy against the misuse of personal APIs can be used independently and affect all regular iOS customers who only obtain their applications from the App Store.
The identification of YiSpecter follows the latest discovery that a large number of applications infected by the XcodeGhost virus have been released into Apple’s online store. During this unfortunate occurrence, the Chinese creators of legitimate applications have submitted applications to the store after integrating within them copies of Apple’s tool set, called Xcode.
Various reviews coming from the victims of these cyber-attacks say that YiSpecter increases its damaging capabilities once it is set up on jail broken and non-jail broken iOS systems. These unusual software powers include the ability to transfer, install, start and control other iOS applications, exchanging current applications for others that are downloaded, infecting other applications to show ads and modifying Safari’s standard search options. It can also mess the browser’s favorite or opened web pages and send the victim’s system information to the hacker’s computer.
Even if YiSpecter and XcodeGhost affect non-jail broken iOS gadgets and do display some technological resemblances, the experts believe that these strikes are not related to each other. As network specialists say, the WireLurker virus found last year infected business certifications in order to affect non-jail broken devices. In addition, YiSpecter uses official certification, but it relies on the use of various APIs to change important settings in iOS. This ability was previously attributed only to extremely skilled hackers.
YiSpecter also provides a variety of new methods to infect jail broken and non-jail broken mobile gadgets. Experts believe that a number of these recent attacks have been coming from Chinese ISPs. The hackers were spreading their viruses by using intense Internet traffic and placing pop-up alerts when customers were visiting known news websites.
Image source: Technewstoday
