WireLurker: New malware that affects Apple products

There’s a new malware in town and it’s affecting Apple products. WireLurker is a new-found malware that targets devices running iOS or Mac OS, as published in a research paper by Palo Alto Networks. It affects Apple devices regardless of whether it is jailbroken and installs third-party applications on them. WireLurker is also capable of stealing information from the devices it infects and regularly requests updates from the attacker’s command and control server. The paper states that “it is the biggest in scale” and the first of its kind seen on an iOS device. It is said to be able to monitor iOS devices connected to an infected OS X computer via USB. Apple users in China are more prone to becoming victims of the malware, as it was used on applications on the Maiyadi App Store - a third-party Mac application store in China. The report states that the malware was used to trojanise 467 OS X applications on the Maiyadi app store. In the past six months, these 467 infected applications were downloaded over 356,104 times and may have impacted hundreds of thousands of users. The malware is currently under active development and it could reach a wider scale. The research paper also provides a few tips to help Apple users prevent the malware from affecting their devices. These are as follows: 1. Enterprises should ensure that mobile traffic is routed through a mobile security application 2. Install a suitable anti-virus software on your Mac OS X system and keep signatures up-to-date. 3. In the OS X System Preferences panel under “Security & Privacy,” ensure “Allow apps downloaded from Mac App Store (or Mac App Store and identified developers)” is turned on. 4. Do not download and run Mac applications or games from any third-party app store, download site or other untrusted source. 5. Keep the iOS version on your device up-to-date. 6. Do not accept any unknown enterprise provisioning profile unless an authorized, trusted party such as your IT corporate help desk) explicitly instructs you to do so. 7. Do not pair your iOS device with untrusted or unknown computers or devices. 8. Avoid powering your iOS device through chargers from untrusted or unknown sources. Similarly, avoid connecting iOS devices with untrusted or unknown accessories or computers (Mac or PC). 9. Do not jailbreak your iOS device; If you do jailbreak it, only use credible Cydia community sources and avoid the use or storage of sensitive personal information on that device