Cracked apps inquiry

[gapperonduty]

There there, before you flame me, lol, this is a legitimate question...

I tried to google and came across this interesting thread about viruses in cydia tweaks...
http://cydiaforums.com/f23/cydia-risky-can-contain-virus-169/

and to put the record straight, I don't use cracked apps. All my tweaks are paid and those that are too expensive, I learn to live without them...

so the question is, how hard it is include a spyware, keylogger, or some really nasty virus that takes all your info and send it somewhere else, in the cracked app, and the unknowing user would be in a big probleM?

I assume that this is easy? and more troubling, COMMON?

and to extrapolate this, what about all the free tweaks out there? surely, they could be used to get your info and send it off somewhere you don't want it to send?

and to end, is there a way to check before you install a tweak, and let's assume that all paid cydia tweaks are free from this problem...

 

[ZCherub]

There there, before you flame me, lol, this is a legitimate question...

I tried to google and came across this interesting thread about viruses in cydia tweaks...
http://cydiaforums.com/f23/cydia-risky-can-contain-virus-169/

and to put the record straight, I don't use cracked apps. All my tweaks are paid and those that are too expensive, I learn to live without them...

so the question is, how hard it is include a spyware, keylogger, or some really nasty virus that takes all your info and send it somewhere else, in the cracked app, and the unknowing user would be in a big probleM?

I assume that this is easy? and more troubling, COMMON?

and to extrapolate this, what about all the free tweaks out there? surely, they could be used to get your info and send it off somewhere you don't want it to send?

and to end, is there a way to check before you install a tweak, and let's assume that all paid cydia tweaks are free from this problem...

Only use trusted repos. Not a guarantee, but it's a solid start...

 

[chickenwingfly]

Well that "Moderator Admin" surely never heard of the infamous Ikee worm

Anyway, yes there is always the chance but like the previous poster said, keeping yourself restricted to the common, "trusted" BigBoss, ModMyi etc repos, is a start. And I don't think this is common or that we should be in red alert.
But I guess the only way for you to be sure (at least in the case of a virus that tries to spread your info to the outside world) would be to install a proxy on your laptop/desktop and then sniff all communication and see if you find anything out of the ordinary, and yes, this would be tedious and boring.
Another way would be to use something like FirewallIP, but still there might be some requests hidden through known iOS processes so it could be hard to infer.

The thing is, Apple tries to enforce security on the system via sandboxing, and so far it has succeeded (with a few drawbacks like the app that would send all of your contact info and so on, but this is because it was available on the SDK), but Cydia tweaks, well... they can do pretty much as they please, so if you are really really really concerned about virii on your iDevice, then you should probably think if you really need the jailbreak.

 

[gapperonduty]

I have been jailbroken for a long time now that to go back to vanila iphone would be a little tough. Nonetheless, I have just recently thought about the security of our jailbroken iphone, hence the topic, and I am beginning to feel a little intimidated given the large amount of ibanking and emails and ishopping etc being done everyday on the iphone (or other smart phone).

I guess everyone who uses cracked apps and read this topic should start thinking about the worse consequences that can occur, and from your reply, it sure can occur!

On another note, could the installation of many different tweaks open up some security holes that may be exploited by specifically designed viral websites/apps?

 

[labman]

you had better look into in IOS vulnerabilities as well. there have been several apps in the app store that were latter found to be collecting info either intentional or not.just saying as long as we are going to point the evil finger at jailbreaking the fact that apple ios can be hacked shows that it's not as secure as people might think. also if I were you I'd be more concerned with the fact that they recently found out the apple store and amazon can be hacked. Right now the hacker appears to be honest and just pointing it out. but appears apple or amazon aren't taking it serious. http://gizmodo.com/5932176/apple-kn...source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

 

[BlizzardBolt]

This was exactly why I was hesitant and ultimately decided NOT to jailbreak an iPhone 4S.

But my iPod touch (music/games) has been jailbroken and I downloaded all kinds of stuff. Messed with it a bit and it lags now but I don't give a damn, no info on there whatsoever, app devs can put viruses in there all they want, it won't affect me. Possibly this is the only advantage that an iPod touch has over any iPhone.

 

[chickenwingfly]

app devs can put viruses in there all they want, it won't affect me. Possibly this is the only advantage that an iPod touch has over any iPhone.

Maybe the only advantage for you. Thousands of people use their iPod Touches as iPhones sans the phone, 3G or GPS (and yes, less memory, less processing power etc).

Maybe you're just too paranoid.
There is the chance, but millions of people jailbreak with total success, no worries.

I know some people (specially in the music production branch) that go to the extent of cutting all outside communication with the outside world and such.
This is nuts.

Virii will always exist, just like the chance to get all kinds of diseases by going outside and interacting with other people. Will you also hide down a rock? Nope. Same with the tech world.

Smart choices on what you download and where you click are always important but living in fear just makes you paranoid to the point of craziness.