Apple's Craig Federighi Says Sideloading on iPhone Would Open the Floodgates to Malware

[rjohnstone]

Except that the play store is absolutely riddled with malware and exploits such as side loading and FAKE BANKING APPS!

You clearly have no understanding of how Play services work.
Google Play is not "riddled with malware and exploits".
Just like Apple, Google screens apps and on device security screens them again. Just like Apple, any app wanting access to your location, camera, microphone, etc., has to ask for that permission and the USER determines what an app can use.
Is it a perfect system, no. But what you describe is pure fantasy.
Anyone sideloading a banking app needs to have their head examined.

 

[Mockletoy]

Well, it wouldn’t amount to much other than the shyte-ton of negative press Apple will get when a handful of people sideload apps that then unload their wallets of all their money. Android is open all right, open to malware and the criminals and bad actors who populate it with apps that never should have seen the light of day. Android doesn’t care because they’re simply providing the software basis for devices that other companies use, so they’re insulated from most of the worst negative issues their open software allows.

Exactly. iOS would be just like Android, by far the most popular operating system in the world for many years now.

The horror!

 

[shplock]

You know, she can already track you 24/7 via Find My Phone on iCloud, right?

Sideloading opens the floodgates to malware.? Fear mongering at it's best.?

If Apple and Google would build a firewall into the OS, a lot of us would not have reasons to sideload. Seriously, a firewall could easily increase securty several folds by blocking data transmission. I would stills sideload older versions of some apps because the latest versions goes subscription or spams ads or starts data mining or some other BS that didn't exist in the older, better version.

No it is called a reality check and if you think otherwise look at the Play Store and all the endless malware that happens as a result of side loading including the fake banking app that steal your money!

 

[standing]

This is why Apple are not planning to retire, please stop with the FUD!

I’ll edit it just for you. I didn’t intend to trigger you.

 

[rjohnstone]

Windows is as insecure as Android actually!

Put down the shovel. You clearly have no understanding of the current state of OS security.

 

[antiprotest]

Sideloading and CSAM.

 

[shplock]

Some of us have enough sense not to visit a bunch of shady websites and "run any random program" we find on the internet.

According to your logic, no car should be able to go over 5mph because some drivers are self-destructive idiots.

There are plenty of intelligent people on Android who are smart and do as you say but they still get infected as you forget that the criminals are smart and not dumb!
Google the former senior military intelligence advisor who got caught out despite being trained in this area!

 

[jmgregory1]

Exactly. iOS would be just like Android, by far the most popular operating system in the world for many years now.

The horror!

I’m pretty sure Apple is perfectly happy being the most profitable device brand in the world, while not having to deal with the fraud and theft that Android allows and encourages. And the vast majority of Apple users are happy for their position.

 

[Kierkegaarden]

I don't think it's me who fails to understand.

If I want to cut a new "opening" in the side of my house (sideloading), I should be able to do so. It's my house, after all. I can take all the doors and windows off if I want to. I can even put a sign on the door that says, "EVERYTHING INSIDE FREE" if I'm feeling especially self destructive and silly. But, hey, it's my house, it's my stuff, it's my decision.

If someone else wants to cut an opening in the side of my house and come inside and do whatever they want (CSAM scanning), that's, you know, not remotely the same thing.

You still don’t understand. The ability to side load or allow for CSAM scanning both require an opening, whether you like it or not. Any opening, no matter how small, could potentially be exploited.

 

[shplock]

You are wrong. Why is this not the case with Android?

You are wrong, see the sheer endless amounts of malware on Android including fake bak apps that side load and then steal all your money before you can say 'Boy am i am stupid fool"

 

[Naraxus]

Yes it is called Google, look up the recent new virtually unbeatable Malware on the Play Store!

No it is called a reality check and if you think otherwise look at the Play Store and all the endless malware that happens as a result of side loading including the fake banking app that steal your money!

You keep vociferously claiming this but have provided zero sources other than your hyperbole.

Once again, please provide a reputable source for your claims

 

[tha_man]

Allowing you to install DOSbox so you can play Duke Nukem or Commander Keen is just far, far too risky! Because ... reasons, I guess?

I'm never quite clear on exactly what it is they're protecting us from, other than losing an opportunity to give them more money.

Dosbox probably not, but for example some system tool (which are btw. more limited in their functionality, when loaded from App Store - same on Mac) could. I'm not talking about doing it intentionally, but could happen. Greater power and less control means higher risk.


Btw. I've just noticed this posted on FB page of one of my favorite apps:

 

[Mockletoy]

I’m pretty sure Apple is perfectly happy being the most profitable device brand in the world, while not having to deal with the fraud and theft that Android allows and encourages. And the vast majority of Apple users are happy for their position.

Bad Apple: App Store Rife with Fraud, Fleeceware

Malicious apps make up 2 percent of top grossing apps in Apple App Store.

threatpost.com

That kind of fraud and theft, you mean?

 

[Force332]

A reminder that the judge in the Apple v. Epic trial didn't buy this argument.

From the ruling,

"While Mr. Federighi's Mac malware opinions may appear plausible, they appear to have emerged for the first time at trial which suggests he is stretching the truth for the sake of the argument. During deposition, he testified that he did not have any data on the relative rates of malware on notarized Mac apps compared to iOS apps. At trial, he acknowledged that Apple only has malware data collection tools for Mac, not for iOS, which raises the questions of how he knows the relative rates. Prior to the lawsuit, Apple has consistently represented Mac and secure from malware. Thus, the Court affords Mr. Federighi's testimony on this topic little weight."

 

[shplock]

This is what tickles me. The naysayers all scream about how the heavens will fall and the world will end if people are able to sideload apps on iOS, and yet billions of people use Android without bringing about the apocalypse. They can never quite explain how that's possible, just as they can never quite explain how it would terrorize them for other people to have the option to do a thing they themselves would not be forced to do.

Hint: if you don't like sideloading, don't do it!

I'll never understand the mindset of a person who says, "I do not like or require this thing, so it must not be allowed to exist and anyone who wants it is wrong and stupid."

This tickles me that you people all declare that there is no problem at all with Android, err yes there is!
Sorry it offends you but side loading is bad, end of!

 

[mrat93]

Not a definitive truth.

You would need to essentially jailbreak to accomplish this, unless I’m missing something. Sideloaded apps have the same same privacy restrictions as App Store apps.

 

[shplock]

Thank you! Developers want this for greedy reasons and nothing more, regardless of their customer’s privacy, which lets be honest; greedy devs don’t care about your privacy.

It is about protecting people like you from yourself!
As once you get tricked easily into giving away your money you will moan and complain about how dare Apple let you do this rather than shutting up and dealing with it.

 

[shplock]

Google Play has already proven that wrong.
You can sideload on Android, yet developers still use Google Play store to distribute their apps as it is a trusted installation source.
Sideloading on Android is also no longer a system wide option. You have to designate which apps are allowed to install from unknown sources. Never allow your browser to be one of those sources and you'd be safe from drive-by malware installations.

Except you are wrong as this approach has left Android with a app store that is FULL FULL FULL of malware!

 

[shplock]

You do know that sideloaded apps will ask for permission to access your data like any other App Store app, right?

You do realise that they will not right?

 

[shplock]

Other people being too stupid and careless to keep their computers secure should have nothing to do with what responsible adults are allowed to do on their devices.

Yes it would actually.

 

[Naraxus]

Except you are wrong as this approach has left Android with a app store that is FULL FULL FULL of malware!

Once again, can you provide a source for this?

 

[JGIGS]

I mean he's not wrong. Apple just needs to stick to their core privacy values to not look like hypocrites.

People choose iOS BECAUSE it's a better working closed ecosystem. You want a free-for-all OS where submitted App Store apps aren't reviewed then go get yourself an Android phone.

Right, because malicious apps never slip through the app store? I mean the graph in this article with ios having at least a small wedge proves otherwise. I don't think anyone is saying they want to run out and sideload all their apps they just want the option.

 

[I7guy]

Sure there are problems with Android.

And yet, when I showed you a link to an article documenting the problems with the App Store -- to the tune of people getting ripped off to the tune of tens of millions of dollars on scam apps approved for sale by Apple, from which they happily collected their 30% off the top -- you totally ignored it.

How come?

Here it is again, in case you missed it the last two times.

Bad Apple: App Store Rife with Fraud, Fleeceware

Malicious apps make up 2 percent of top grossing apps in Apple App Store.

threatpost.com

Yep, good reminder of a preview of where the App Store could wind up with sideloading.

 

[shplock]

Being "the trusted app platform" means you can easily allow sideloading AND people will still prefer to use your app store. You know, because it's "the trusted one" instead of some weird hack app.

Absolutely 100% agree here and Apple can safely cut a foot off the hedges of the walled garden. What shouldn't happen is the burning down of said garden.

No because once you start cutting down that garden wall a bit you end up cutting it all down!

 

[Mockletoy]

Right, because malicious apps never slip through the app store? I mean the graph in this article with ios having at least a small wedge proves otherwise. I don't think anyone is saying they want to run out and sideload all their apps they just want the option.

It was when they removed iDOS2 from the App Store that I really started to take notice.

How they think they're "protecting" me by keeping me from running ancient DOS games and word processors and stuff on my phone for a nostalgia hit is totally beyond me.

It really brought it home to me just how much money I'm paying Apple over time to rent these phones and iPads from them, under terms that they alone set, which they can decide to change at any time, just because.