Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Removes Scam App That Led to Hijacked Facebook Ad Accounts
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
no difference? how about after getting removed they can't get installed? oh snap!
Apple: of course we can't have sideloading because that's unsafe. The developers have their anus torn with that 25% fee, but that's the cost of monopoly having a safe platform.
Also Apple: here's your daily dose of malware from out 100% secure app store. We'll renove it once some third party makes some fuss, idk, were're not your mommy, stuff happens.
Also Apple: here's your daily dose of malware from out 100% secure app store. We'll renove it once some third party makes some fuss, idk, were're not your mommy, stuff happens.
In general yes, but I do have a problem with Apple knowing about it and not pulling the app until later. That shouldn’t happen.
The Slime Therapy app scams is a great example of this. These were apps that Apple promoted on the front page no less.
I don't recall the police ever touting or bragging about how great they are at stopping crime like how Apple does with their App Store
"We built industry-leading security protections into the device, and we created the App Store, a trusted place where users can safely discover and download apps. On the App Store, apps come from known developers who have agreed to follow our guidelines, and are securely distributed to users free from interference from third parties. We review every single app and each app update to evaluate whether they meet our high standards. This process, which we are constantly working to improve, is designed to protect our users by keeping malware, cybercriminals, and scammers out of the App Store.
[. . . ]
Thanks to all these protections, users can download any app on the App Store with peace of mind. This peace of mind also benefits developers, who are able to reach a wide audience of users who feel confident downloading their apps."
I know right. Kinda like the absurdity of still having crime despite having a strong police force. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You mean like Gatekeeper and notarization on macOS work for "sideloaded" apps?
Apple finds a malicious app, they revoke that certificate, app no longer runs...
that is a bit myopic. 1) scam apps are built to deceive aka scam, only do that by hiding nefarious intent. 2) App Store operators do not have criminal investigative powers, not judicial punitive powers, 3) after hiding intent to get certification - morphed into something else (yah everyone should have seen that, not criminal or anything), 4) after valid complain made or other evidence of problem an investigation ensues and app is removed (should apps be removed at first suggestion? that would be fun, I could report Facebook and twitter and they would have to be removed, or do we stick with valid reports followed with an investigation? 5) Once removed, can't get back on in same form aka removed.
Now how about passing laws to allow for criminal investigation and punishment? How about requiring bonding of App Store developers to create a re-imbursement fund for victims.
Seriously, everyone admits it is not perfect, but why are there so fewer problems than on Android (for the same fees)? Could it be that the single source App Store actually works? Don't get me wrong, I'm for lower fees and more security
How can they be sure this app wasn't the real "Facebook ads manager"? Sounds pretty legit and consistent with Facebook's MO to me
"I don't recall the police ever touting or bragging about how great they are at stopping crime like how Apple does with their App Store". hahaha, never saw a political ad or listened to a politician? Besides, just because some get through, doesn't mean a lot more weren't stopped, of course a lot were stopped. The fact that apps can be reported/investigated/and removed is a good thing. Take this app, not on the store now, is it?
Just like on the Mac, Windows, Android, they will be shown how to sideload them by “helpful” folks working to “remove malware from their system” unaware that they are giving full control of their system to some malicious actors.
But, I mean, there’s a LOT of folks that WANT folks with iOS devices to be targeted. Why should they be free from having their systems compromised?
At the same time, their phone with their contacts, financial information, messages, photos are protected. This ONLY affected Facebook ads users and ONLY their Facebook ads account. That would NOT be the case with a sideloaded app. Their phone with their contacts and all their sensitive data would now be in the hands of a malicious actor.
But, I mean, we all know that malicious actors won’t use the ability to sideload to take control of ACTUAL phones! Look, there hasn’t been a massive attack numbering in the millions against iPhones up until now, so there’s no reason to believe that one will ever happen even IF sideloading becomes a thing! They don’t attack iPhones because they’re just generally nice folks that wouldn’t do that, not because they literally have no currently widely available way to distribute their phone controlling malware!
and yet the Mac is surviving just fine... straw man argument makers always bring in Windows and Android. Totally irrelevant. Lets focus on the only things that matter here, iOS and macOS.. and macOS is doing quite well allowing what the fear mongers call "sideloading", but normal people call "installing software".
Funny. I install a lot of stuff off the web on my Mac, and I'm fine. Same on my Windows PC and my Steam Deck.Just like on the Mac, Windows, Android, they will be shown how to sideload them by “helpful” folks working to “remove malware from their system” unaware that they are giving full control of their system to some malicious actors.
But, I mean, there’s a LOT of folks that WANT folks with iOS devices to be targeted. Why should they be free from having their systems compromised?
Policing of any kind is never perfect but is far better than none at all.
Found the guy who wants to install pirate apps and doesn’t know how much malware was infecting users of Cydia.
You appear not to understand what happens at scale.
If even 0.01 percent of a billion users had phones infected by a dangerous malware, it can spread from device, to device, to device and along the way it steals contact details, GPS location, find more security holes in the OS, finds holes in finance apps.
Once you understand scale you stop believing in this really bad ideas. You do not live in the pre-internet world. You do not even live in the world of 10 years ago. We now have nation states who want all your data and they want to find and kill journalists/politicians and their families.
Why haven’t you noticed this world we live in today? You should have seen all the controversies of how dangerous social media platforms are and how journalists and activists have been tracked and killed.
Noooooo, everybody is just reading the leaked documents wrong 😝
Are these fake apps that are leaking through that good or that deceiving?
I always check reviews of an app before I even attempt to downlapd anything, even the seemingly genuine ones. Facebook is just a hackers dream though and now everyones profiles are getting cloned it’s hard to know who’s genuine and who isn’t
I always check reviews of an app before I even attempt to downlapd anything, even the seemingly genuine ones. Facebook is just a hackers dream though and now everyones profiles are getting cloned it’s hard to know who’s genuine and who isn’t
I want home screen themes, retro game emulators, Windows VM managers. and other things Apple won't allow on the app store, like Xbox Game Pass for Cloud.
I don’t think you know what a straw man is.
It’s not “a statement I don’t like”.Ok, I’ll make it simple for you. Mac users can be scammed into providing root access to their Mac. iOS users cannot be scammed into providing root access to their iOS device, no matter how gullible and inexperienced they are.
Maybe, juuuuust maybe, think a bit about someone that’s NOT you? You’re a tech savvy MacRumors reader. Whatever you want on YOUR phone you can have via jailbreaking it. There are far more people that benefit from the current security than there are people that would EVER benefit from sideloading. On the up side, you get a few hundred people that can finally download a vape app from anywhere. Whoopee. On the down side, now millions are exposed to the same malicious actors that are quite effective on non-iOS platforms.