TechDigits

Tech news
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Delete these 17 iOS apps from your iPhone, researchers have found trojan malware on them

Delete these 17 iOS apps from your iPhone, researchers have found trojan malware on them

Researchers have found 17 iOS apps, all by one India-based app developer called AppAspect Technologies Pvt Ltd, which were infected by clicker trojan malware. Apple has removed the apps from the App Store.
Researchers have found 17 iOS apps, all by one India-based app developer called AppAspect Technologies Pvt Ltd, which were infected by clicker trojan malware. The apps have all been taken down by Apple from the App Store, but users who still have any of these apps on their iPhone should delete them given the security risk that they pose.

The results were revealed in a new research done at Wandera cybersecurity firm. These apps infected with clicker trojan malware are as follows: RTO Vehicle Information, EMI Calculator & Loan Planner, File Manager – Documents, Smart GPS Speedometer, CrickOne – Live Cricket Scores, Daily Fitness – Yoga Poses, FM Radio – Internet Radio, My Train Info – IRCTC & PNR (not listed under developer profile), Around Me Place Finder, Easy Contacts Backup Manager, Ramadan Times 2019, Restaurant Finder – Find Food, BMI Calculator – BMR Calc, Dual Accounts, Video Editor – Mute Video, Islamic World – Qibla and Smart Video Compressor.

Keep in mind the My Train Info – IRCTC & PNR is not the official IRCTC app. There’s no official iOS version of the app. Given the names of the apps, it looks like these were mostly targeted at users based in India.

According to the report, “the apps would communicate with a known command and control (C&C) server to simulate user interactions in order to fraudulently collect ad revenue.” The clicker trojan module in the apps is designed to carry out ad fraud-related tasks in the background, notes the report. The tasks include continuously opening web pages or clicking links without any user interaction.

The objective is to generate revenue for the attacker on a pay-per-click basis. The report also revealed that the app developer has a total of 51 apps published on the App Store. “We tested all of the free iTunes Applications of the developer and the results show that 17 out of the 35 free applications are all infected with the same malicious clicker functionality and are communicating with the same C&C server,” notes the report.

Apple “rigorously patrols the App Store to protect customers and to detect apps that may be trying to scam customers”. As per sources, when Apple suspects apps are not acting in conformance with its guidelines, they are immediately investigated, followed by action which might include removal from the Store. In this case, the sources added, 18 apps were removed but no Trojan malware was found. The apps apparently had code that allows for the artificial click-through of ads which is a violation of our guidelines.

As the report points out, the bad apps were able to bypass security checks because it activates a communication channel directly with the attacker and this is not within Apple’s view. Wandera also notified Apple’s team of the malware on all the apps, following which Apple has taken down all the compromised apps, except for two.

These are ‎My Train Info – IRCTC & PNR and Easy Contacts Backup Manager. However, searching for the My Train Info – IRCTC & PNR app on the store does not reveal any results, which means the app could have been removed.
Newsletter

Related Articles

TechDigits
0:00
0:00
Close
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The future of sports
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
UK Crypto and Stablecoin Regulations Become Law as Royal Assent is Granted
A Delaware city wants to let businesses vote in its elections
Alef Aeronautics Achieves Historic Milestone with Flight Certification for World's First Flying Car
Google Blocked Access to Canadian News in Response to New Legislation
French Politicians Advocate for Pan-European Regulation on Social Media Influencers
Melinda French Gates Advocates for Increased Female Representation in AI to Prevent Bias
Snapchat+ gains 4 million paying subscribers in its first year
Apple Makes History as the First Public Company Valued at $3 Trillion
Elon Musk Implements Twitter Limits to Tackle Data Scraping, but Faces Criticism for Technical Misunderstanding
EU and UK's Slow Electric Vehicle Adoption Raises Questions About the Transition to Green Mobility
Top Companies Express Concerns Over Europe's Proposed AI Law, Citing Competitiveness and Investment Risks
Meta Unveils Insights on AI Usage in Facebook and Instagram, Amid Growing Calls for Transparency
Crypto Scams Against Seniors Soar by 78% in 2022, Experts Urge Vigilance
The End of an Era: National Geographic Dismisses Last of Its Staff Writers
Shield Your Wallet: The Perils of Wireless Credit Card Theft
Harvard Scientist Who Studies Honesty Accused Of Data Fraud, Put On Leave
Putting an End to the Subscription Snare: The Battle Against Unwitting Commitments
The Legal Perils of AI: Lawyer Faces Sanctions for Relying on Fictional Cases Generated by Chatbot
ChatGPT’s "Grandma Exploit": Ingenious Hack Exposes Loophole in AI, Generates Free Software Codes
The Disney Downturn: A Near Billion-Dollar Box Office Blow for the House of Mouse
A Digital Showdown: Canada Challenges Tech Giants with The Online News Act, Meta Strikes Back
Distress in the Depths: Submersible and Passengers Missing in Titanic Wreckage Expedition
Mark Zuckerberg stealing another idea: Twitter
European Union's AI Regulations Risk Self-Sabotage, Cautions smart and brave Venture Capitalist Joe Lonsdale
Nvidia GPUs are so hard to get that rich venture capitalists are buying them for the startups they invest in
Chinese car exports surge
Reddit Blackout: Thousands of Communities Protest "Ludicrous" Pricing Changes
Nvidia Joins Tech Giants as First Chipmaker to Reach $1 Trillion Valuation
AI ‘extinction’ should be same priority as nuclear war – experts
×