The iPhone just lost its perfect security record — now what?

The Verge ^ | 6 Nov 2014 | Russell Brandom

[for-q-clinton]

For most of the iPhone's lifespan, it's been effectively immune to malware. There were theoretical attacks and viruses targeting jailbroken phones, but thanks to the tight controls of the App Store, finding iOS malware in the wild has been nearly impossible. If you didn't jailbreak your phone and you weren’t targeted by the NSA, you simply didn't have to worry about catching a virus.

Yesterday, that changed. A security firm called Palo Alto Networks discovered a malware program they’re calling Wirelurker, which sneaks into computers through unauthorized Chinese apps, then attacks iOS devices when they connect over USB. It’s an obscure line of attack (when’s the last time you actually plugged your iPhone into your computer?), confined to China, and so far the effects have been minimal. The actual payload for non-jailbroken phones was just a test balloon, side-loading a comic book app to prove the attack really worked. Jailbroken phones got a nastier payload, infecting payment apps, but that's to be expected. Last night, Apple blocked the apps, saying "We are aware of malicious software available from a download site aimed at users in China, and we’ve blocked the identified apps to prevent them from launching. As always, we recommend that users download and install software from trusted sources." Less than 24 hours after Palo Alto Networks published its report, Wirelurker appears to be mostly wiped out. Still, that doesn't mean Apple is completely in the clear. The vulnerabilities exploited by Wirelurker will be around for much longer, and could pose a serious threat to Apple's otherwise spotless record. Now that the platform has had its first real virus scare, there's reason to think it won't be the last.

[Salamander]

Okay, I see what you mean, here.

*wow*

/backing away slowly from thread, constantly maintaining eye contact

[5thGenTexan]

Again, no one is forcing them on the Apple platform. They are choosing to be there. And they jerk you around, take your money, blame Apple and you are letting them.

[Swordmaker]

Oh that early adopter thing. No, they create proprietary things and divide industries and destroy compatability. When USB was young and everyone went with it, they did Firewire. When it became too slow and USB3 was the standard, they created Thunderbolt.

Laughing my behind off.

Norm. Norm, Norm. Ignorance on Parade. Enormous FLOATS of ignorance on parade. You win the Ignorance Parade Marshall's award for Highest Display of Ignorant Pride for Overweening Arrogance, History Division.

Apple has been the epitome of the standard bearer in the technology world.

I suppose that because Apple creates proprietary things, Microsoft deliberately changed the file system in Microsoft Word and refused to make the file patterns available for interoperability and compatibility? Compatibility must have been the reason that Microsoft made the choice that all word processors such as WordPerfect, could only print TWO COPIES at a time to the connected printer, when Microsoft (also referred to as TinyLimp) released the first version of Microsoft Word? Nah. couldn't be.

As for Apple. . .

• Apple was the first computer maker to standardize on 3.5" floppies. . . and was roundly criticized by the other makers for doing so, until they also dropped the 5.25" floppies.
• "When USB was young and everyone went with it. . ." Totally untrue. Apple was the first major computer maker to standardize on USB for printers, external drives, keyboards, and mouses. The other makers roundly criticized Apple for doing so. It was years before most of them dropped the Parallel Printer Port and the Serial Game Port, large Serial Port and the dedicated Keyboard and Mouse ports, even going so far as to include adapters for USB keyboards and mouses to connect to the green and purple color coded serial ports that were used on PCs for that purpose. Sorry. Wrong again. Apple has always also included faster and more versatile connections as well. . . such as the previously included SCSI (Smsll Computer System Interface) standard which was far faster than parallel connections and allowed daisy chaining,
• ". . .they (Apple) did Firewire." Uh, no. Firewire is IEEE 1394 is an interface standard for a serial bus for high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data transfer. It was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990 by Apple, Texas Instruments, Sony, Digital Equipment Corporation, IBM, and INMOS/SGS Thomson (now STMicroelectronics). and allows up to 63 devices to be connect by daily chaining, and to carry high amperage current and voltage, something USB cannot. The iEEE 1394 standard is used by Sony (I.Link) and Texas Instruments (Lynx), so, sorry, it's not "proprietary." It is licensed, and manufacturers of IEEE 1394 devices have to pay 25¢ per device to the MPEG Organization in licensing. You lose again.
• "When it became too slow and USB3 was the standard, they created Thunderbolt." Good grief. Can you be more ignorant? Apple supports USB 3. . . but it also includes "Thunderbolt" which is it's name for the interface developed by Intel™ along with Apple for a very high speed (up to 40Gigabits per second), daisy chaining (7 devices), power carrying (100 Watts at 18 volts?, copper only, not fiber channel). Again, not proprietary. You lose again.

The only one rinsing and repeating here is you, losing. May I suggest you get a more modern playbook. . . one that was written in the 21st Century?

[ctdonath2]

Ok.

[tap read tap read tap read tap]

Got the full context now.
Awright, relevant question then: WTF are you talking about? What does NSA have to do with what I wrote?

[Swordmaker]

Sales success can be part of the user satisfaction. Plenty of people HAVE to use Apple because they are financially tied to it and they are massively not satisfied as I pointed out in several posts already. They are real people/businesses and they function in the casual user and normal business spheres.

And exactly WHERE is your evidence of these "massively not satisfied" hordes of Apple users screaming and heading for the exit?

On one side, we have Norm Lenhart's unsupported FUD claims of "massive unsatisfaction" with Apple products. . . but on our side we have this:

Source American Customer Satisfaction Index, September 24, 2014

AND THIS:


J.D. Power, which previously awarded the iPhone highest in consumer satisfaction
for smartphones eight years in a row, today released a report that puts Apple on top
for customer satisfaction by carrier. While measure four key metrics—performance,
physical design, features, and ease of operation—across the four major carriers, J.D.Power
found Apple and the iPhone’s overall score ranked #1 for Sprint, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile.

AND THEN THERE'S THIS:


J.D. Power's Customer Satisfaction of Tablets.

Look's to me that this is "Game, Set, and Match, Norm!"

Where are your facts?

Crickets. . .

CHIRP! CHIRP!


. . . . . CHIRP!


. . . CHIRP!

[Swordmaker]

I used Apple for years at work and for YEARS people repeated how bulletproof they were. Several crashes a day later I know better.

Everything you post on here tells us you are talking ancient history, Norm. When did you work on Macs? Please elucidate.

[Norm Lenhart]

See, now people never believe it when I tell them. They have to experience this utterly asinine level of company devotion personally. If you or anyone reading goes back, you will not find a single concession any of these people made despite several of us posting links, relating literally YEARS of personal experience across numerous fields.

N O T A S I N G L E O N E

Wait till he goes back to posting his personal medical diagnoses. But what I want to see is any legit psych doctor call any of these barking devotees stable based on their reaction to disagreement backed with experience.

I’d never lie to you Sal. Remember. I survived one Redhead. I am damn sure not gonna try my luck that strongly ;)

[Swordmaker]

Spend 5K on an Antelope DAC and then try to get a PC driver. So you call Vintage King and order a shiny new Mytek that will work. For 5K. Times 32.

Ask Antelope DAC's manufacturer WHY did they not make their software OS X compliant for THEIR customers! Why blame Apple. Apple showed how easy it was to do. . . and it is easy. Many other manufacturers and publishers did it. The reason was that THEY wanted to sell you a new piece of hardware!

This is NOT Apple's fault. Apple made every effort to get developers on board. I've been to developer's conferences and Apple falls all over itself to get the developers to do what ever is necessary. Often it was because MICROSOFT paid them to NOT upgrade. Microsoft was the originator of the concept of FUD marketing, paying people to spread negative comments on websites. Microsoft is paying developers right now to develop apps for Windows Phone and for the Windows Surface, apps that developers normally develop on their own dime and risk for other platforms.

Samsung is playing the same game right now. . . or do you seriously think that Samsung's marketing budget of over $14 billion (which is the largest marketing budget of any company in history, and is far MORE than their profits) is for TV and print advertising. In fact, it is my opinion, this whole thread is an example of that marketing budget.

[Swordmaker]

Then don’t respond and ignore me.

No, sir. YOU are the skunk at this picnic. You are the uninvited TROLL throwing turds in the punch bowl. You are unwelcome and you should get the hint. You do not use Apple products and your presence here is not appreciated. Your input DOES NOT ADD ANYTHING TO THE DISCUSSION BECAUSE IT IS FALSE AND OUTDATED AND IGNORANT. You have nothing to teach us because we know much more than you do about the subject. You merely are a blot on the thread and spoil it for everyone. YOU, sir, are a boor and an ass. You stay where you are not welcome and you act as bully.

We have tried being polite and it has not worked. YOU act like a Liberal who cannot be treated intelligently. You refuse to listen to facts. You have posted no links to back up your assertions, mistaking your opinions for facts is not proof of anything. Repetition of the same thing does not make it more truthful, just more boring. Now just go away.

[Swordmaker]

Whatever. You’re a broken record repeating the same ol’ crap to protect apple your employer.

For the ninety-eleventh time, for-q-clinton, I will tell you and also tell you to quit claiming it.

I.
AM.
NOT.
EMPLOYED.
BY.
APPLE!

NOW, CUT IT OUT!

I have told you that for years. You must be a Liberal if you can not learn a simple fact after being told the truth. . . or you are being paid by Samsung to continue to repeat the lie.

[Swordmaker]

Oh? apple is now proprietary there too and soldereds to the motherboard? What IS a ‘Windows HD”. Who makes it? Segate? Western Digital?

Read for content and understanding, Norm. It's any hard drive with Windows installed on it. Don't appear stupid.

[Swordmaker]

I’m not the only person that has trouble getting cut and paste to work with Safari and iOS 8. It’s a known problem. The only fix for now seems to be use a different browser. I’m not an Apple hater, but when a basic function like cut and paste doesn’t work right it’s very annoying to say the least.

Works fine on my iPad and my iPhone 6. What problem are you having?

[Swordmaker]

All of which are Apple/NSA backdoored correct?

Discussing anything with you is like discussing with a Liberal Democrat. You change the subject. What does Apple and NSA have to do with each other, and then with ALL those independent anti-virus companies like AVAST and Norton, etc. YOU live in a delusional world. Get help. Psychiatry is covered by Obamacare, which you must love, being a Liberal, which you must be, since you talk and argue like one.

[Swordmaker]

Write an apple approved app and sell it outside Apple’s domain.See a problem here yet?

Yes, with you. You come out with the most amazing non sequiturs. You are totally disconnected from reality, Norm. There are thousands of OS X apps available that are NOT in Apple's "domain" as you call it. Only iOS apps are in the walled garden for a very good reason. You are delusional.

[Norm Lenhart]

Now check it again Sal. He’s in full steam righteous fury now.

[smokingfrog]

iOS 8.1.1 beta was just released for testing the other day. Maybe that will fix it.

http://www.macrumors.com/2014/11/03/apple-releases-ios-8-1-1-beta/

[Swordmaker]

Run Arturia Jupiter 8V through Elisencer controlled by an SSL Matrix console on MaCUnix from a command line or controled by a Slate Raven MTX via command line and get back to me on how that worked out for you.

Again, your issues are with the hardware and software vendors. Apple moved from PowerPC processors because IBM had stopped developing the processor beyond the G5 and it was stagnating. Apple was forced to move to Intel. You may want them to stay in the past with antique hardware because your hardware required it, but Apple made a business decision that proved to be the correct one. YOUR hardware and software companies refused to move forward and make the move by updating their DRIVERS to comply with the new OS.

Apple kept the old Mac-OS 9 operational for FIVE YEARS beyond the move to INTEL processors through the Rosetta emulation, which work just fine for the software end. . . and most hardware worked as well. Too bad your hardware companies elected to not upgrade. THAT IS ON THEM. Many others did up grade. That was plenty of time for most businesses to amortize upgrade expenses. Certainly enough time for their vendors to write drivers. For some reason, they chose not to.

Music is not a high-speed connectivity requirement application, no matter what you claim. Syncing is not that hard. Many companies did it. Some chose not to. Others did. Why? I don't know. You'll have to ask them. I suspect they wanted to sell new models of their products. I know that was the case with scanners.

Most Apple hardware and software partners reported costs at under $10,000 to bring their hardware and software into OS X and new hardware compliance. Apple worked with them and helped with funding. All they had to do was ask. I know of several who did and got the help.

[Salamander]

People can call me anything else they want but liar is off limits.

Most of the troubles I have in life came from telling the truth, despite the backlash.

If my life revolved around some slavish devotion to a novel, quirky OS, I’d eat a bullet rather than be that pathetic.

[Salamander]

Could not possibly care less about anything else he rants.

Hopefully, someone will stuff a stick between his teeth before he swallows his tongue.

[Norm Lenhart]

Thats the biggest problem with having integrity. Since most people hate the idea that they can’t act like total hedonists with impunity, lying, cheating, stealing, voting for liberals; andthose who even attempt to maintain any are shoveled the BS.