Computer Viruses Could Infect Apple’s iPads

Panda Security's anti-malware laboratory, PandaLabs, has disclosed that malware created to attack iPhones can also hack the famous Apple gizmo, iPad. Since the release of iPad in the market, it has constantly been hacked by cyber criminals for malicious gains.

The PandaLabs researchers have succeeded to corrupt a jailbroken iPad with iPhone/Eeki worm that affects iPhone.

iPhone/Eeki has the capacity to attack jailbroken iPhones. It means the malware is used to infect those phones that have been meddled for downloading unofficial applications. It has been spread to iPad Touch. PandaLabs first released the warning about this harmful worm in 2009.

Luis Corrons, PandaLabs' Technical Director, stated that this was quite natural because iPad and iPhone used the same operating system (known as iOS), as per the news by esecurityplanet on June 24, 2010.

Besides Corrons, Sean-Paul Correll, another reputed researcher at PandaLabs, highlighted that an efficient proof-of-concept malware could infect iPad. He exhibited the proof-of-concept in a video posted on the PandaLabs blog, as per the news by Infosecurity on June 23, 2010.

As Infosecurity states, it seems that this kind of a malware infection only on jailbroken iPad devices because Apple has shutdown its iPad to third-part peripherals. Now, Apple only allows the application approved by its app store.

Corrons further said that the malware infections could be done on both iPad and iPhone through operating system flaws, and in some situations, harmful applications that could make way through Apple's filters, as per the reports Infosecurity on June 23, 2010.

Moreover, Corrons said that this did not mean that web users would start receiving massive infections. PandaLabs have always believed that as the market share of Apple increases, hackers will start showing more interest in hacking those that makes use of this platform. But they have started to find more proofs of concepts, and so all Mac users are recommended to follow the manufacturers' guidelines to increase security on their operating systems, as per the reports by newswiretoday on June 23, 2010.

Related article: Computer Virus Writers Adopt New Strategy

» SPAMfighter News - 7/2/2010