hi. i was searching for ipad 4 rumors, and went on some pc website. i accidentally knocked a free personality test advertisement, twice. they opened up in new tabs. i closed them. bit paranoid about viruses. can ipads get them, or wouldnt those adverts have compromised my ipad? many thanks.
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can ipads get viruses?
- Thread starter kingdummkopf
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Not a real threat at this moment in time, however years down the line I can see it being a major target for hackers and the like.
how much of a threat is it now then? do i need to do a restore on my ipad??
it was this site;
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/features/apple/3347923/ipad-4-release-date-specs-rumour-round-up/
and this was the ad i accidentally clicked. i did it on my vista laptop to check it because i have and anti-virus.
http://personalitytest.visualdna.co...nts/6439ba7b-4902-5ed5-8e1e-916d4323d395.html
it was this site;
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/features/apple/3347923/ipad-4-release-date-specs-rumour-round-up/
and this was the ad i accidentally clicked. i did it on my vista laptop to check it because i have and anti-virus.
http://personalitytest.visualdna.co...nts/6439ba7b-4902-5ed5-8e1e-916d4323d395.html
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No man, you're cool! Don't worry...your iPad is just fine.
There was an "App" from Russia pulled over this week's holiday 'screw up' from Apple's application update process (the two unrelated).
On the 4th, something got screwy with the updates to apps and a few dozen were affected, but Apple has resolved the issue. While that was in the works, one of the security companies found a Russian App available in the store that WAS a trojan of sorts (sucked up your contacts, etc). It was immediately removed.
Each App must play in it's own Sandbox...nothing gets out or in (that's how the model is built in theory). Down the road, we may see a 'threat'...as ubiquitous as the iPad has become, but as of now...No Worries! You're good to go!
J
There was an "App" from Russia pulled over this week's holiday 'screw up' from Apple's application update process (the two unrelated).
On the 4th, something got screwy with the updates to apps and a few dozen were affected, but Apple has resolved the issue. While that was in the works, one of the security companies found a Russian App available in the store that WAS a trojan of sorts (sucked up your contacts, etc). It was immediately removed.
Each App must play in it's own Sandbox...nothing gets out or in (that's how the model is built in theory). Down the road, we may see a 'threat'...as ubiquitous as the iPad has become, but as of now...No Worries! You're good to go!
J
Keep backups of your iPad installation (in the cloud or on a computer) for reasons unrelated to malware. There are other reasons why you may need it, such as theft or dropping the iPad in a swimming pool.
The chance of an actual virus on your iPad is almost non-existent. Because the apps have to be approved and the OS locks down what an app can and can't do, the chances of the initial threat are extremely unlikely (not to say technically impossible) only to be made further unlikely by the chance of said threat actually mattering to you.
If you have jailbroken your device you have defeated some of these security measures increasing the probability, but it remains extremely unlikely. This is in part due to the fact that most iOS devices do not share security weaknesses common to jailbroken iOS devices, among other reasons.
ahh okay cool. it was also because i saw 'ad.doubleclick.net' which i always assume is a tracking cookie or something... that wouldn't have downloaded anything to my ipad, right? i cleared my cookies on safari anyway.
i haven't jailbroken my ipad and don't intend to. usually am careful what i go on, but am so used to adblock on my computer i forget about ads, and then accidentally clicked one, which took me through ad.doubleclick.net, and then finally to the link i posted above, and i got a bit concerned, so i was/am prepeared to do a system restore if needed to keep my ipad clean, though i don't particularly want to have to do that.
i haven't jailbroken my ipad and don't intend to. usually am careful what i go on, but am so used to adblock on my computer i forget about ads, and then accidentally clicked one, which took me through ad.doubleclick.net, and then finally to the link i posted above, and i got a bit concerned, so i was/am prepeared to do a system restore if needed to keep my ipad clean, though i don't particularly want to have to do that.
I'd strongly recommend the Norton antivirus iPad edition. I use it every day, just in case a personality test infects my device.
it wasn't the fact it was a personality test... it was the fact it was ad.doubleclick.net, and then the page for the personality test appeared. i think online ads and i think WARNING
While the risk of being infected with an actual virus are extremely low, people can still do annoying things with Javascript like pop-ups and redirects to unexpected sites. You could conceivably visit a site that directs you to a porn site full of banner ads, for example. That's not a virus though, and you'd get the same thing no matter what browser or platform you use.
Also: there's a whole other sort of virus going on that can infect the actual websites. I had a site that was hit by one of these. There was a vulnerability in a script I used and someone was able to go in and rewrite the PHP code on my website so that anytime you visited a page it would "phone home" to the hacker's server as well as redirect any 404 Not Found errors to some Russian spam site. That was a nasty one to find and get rid of, but it was entirely on the web server.
Also: there's a whole other sort of virus going on that can infect the actual websites. I had a site that was hit by one of these. There was a vulnerability in a script I used and someone was able to go in and rewrite the PHP code on my website so that anytime you visited a page it would "phone home" to the hacker's server as well as redirect any 404 Not Found errors to some Russian spam site. That was a nasty one to find and get rid of, but it was entirely on the web server.
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Every once in a while there is an iOS vulnerability that hackers could easily attack, but luckily apple usually updates before any true damage could be caused. (back in 4.3.3 there was a safari vlnerability that could edit root files on your device simply by visiting a website. Your device could become jailbroken without you even knowing it, luckily it was fixed quickly.)
Just for the record, ads very well can be great ways to spread viruses because they are often coded in java, javascript, or flash. Of course usually the point is that they are trojans or viruses disguised as ads, and not actual ads. Doubleclick may be annoying, and possibly intrusive, but they are legit. They've been around a long time, I think even before Google.
If you go to a lot of "unknown" websites (non popular, not well known sites, I mean), then it is smart to be a little wary of any popups you get. The iPads are pretty safe from such things, however.
How are are you running Java or Flash?
Some ads are actually java or flash programs. Most of them aren't just simple html. I once locked up my computer by trying to print a webpage, not realizing that it had a java-based ad on it. The computer choked trying to process the ad for printing. The PC got so hot trying to process the ad I thought the cooling fan was going to make the thing fly out of the window. Scared the hell out of me until I figured out how to clear the print cache and get it to stop.
How are are you running Java or Flash?
I believe he means on his actual PC, not his iPad.
Silly me, I mistakenly thought this was the iPad forum and the OP was asking about an iPad.
I don't mean to alarm you because the threat right no is minimal, but they can get malware, recently one was spotted by kasperky sending user data in russia to the hacker's servers. But viruses like you mean to wreak havoc to your system, no, not yet. Just be a bit careful what access you give to your data to apps for privacy issues more so than anything. Eg, don't every app need to know your location, and contacts should be only shared with very trusted apps.
Silly me, I mistakenly thought this was the iPad forum and the OP was asking about an iPad.
True, but if you pay attention, I wasn't responding to the OP's question directly.