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back to article Don't think you're SAFE from Windows zombies just 'cos you have an iPhone - research

Fanbois aren't safe from Windows malware - and it's all down to iTunes syncing. The music software's sync is the Achilles' heel that could expose otherwise secure iOS devices to malware, security researchers warn. Simply connecting an iPhone or iPad to an infected Windows machine through a USB cable leaves it vulnerable to …

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  1. MrT

    Didn't we see something similar...

    ... almost exactly a year ago? In that case it was fake power adapters that infected iPhones via USB, whereas here it's the same basic system using Windows malware instead of a custom piece of hardware masquerading as a charging socket.

    1 0 Reply
  2. dogged

    iTunes is pretty much malware under Windows anyway.

    It may well be lovely under OSX but the sheer awfulness of it under anything else has always been my main objection to owning an iThing.

    15 0 Reply
    1. a53
      Reply Icon

      iTunes is pretty much malware under Windows anyway.

      LMAO, so because of a weak PC o/s causing the problem, Apple is the culprit ?

      3 8 Reply
      1. JDX Gold badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: iTunes is pretty much malware under Windows anyway.

        If Apple write the software which is vulnerable then yes?

        7 2 Reply
        1. king of foo
          Reply Icon

          Re: iTunes is pretty much malware under Windows anyway.

          Er, hate to be a killjoy but surely it's USB that's inherently insecure, irrespective of OS?

          2 3 Reply
          1. Charles Manning
            Reply Icon

            Re: iTunes is pretty much malware under Windows anyway.

            "but surely it's USB that's inherently insecure"

            USB is just a communications path - a bit of wire. Just as you don'e expect to get security from thernet, you should not expect security from USB.

            What is fundamentally broken (security wise) is the design of the interaction between itunes and ithings.

            Even if the exchange between the two was over tinfoil-wrapped encrypted Wifi or whatever it would not make any difference.

            What it really comes dwon to is that Apple treats the itune connection differently than the rest of the world via wifi. itues is always trusted, rest of the world is not.

            2 0 Reply
      2. VinceH
        Reply Icon

        Re: iTunes is pretty much malware under Windows anyway.

        "LMAO, so because of a weak PC o/s causing the problem, Apple is the culprit ?"

        They're certainly to blame for it being an absolutely awful bag of shite* that I couldn't wait to get rid of. (I now use Songbird. Much nicer.)

        * IMO. YMMV.

        3 0 Reply
        1. VinceH
          Reply Icon

          Re: iTunes is pretty much malware under Windows anyway.

          "I now use Songbird. Much nicer."

          Or, rather, Nightingale, since Songbird was discontinued.

          1 0 Reply
    2. AbelSoul
      Reply Icon

      iTunes is pretty much malware under Windows anyway.

      It may well be lovely under OSX ...

      It isn't; far from it.

      I tend to use OSX more than any other OS but I rarely use iTunes. Horribly bloated piece of kiech-ware.

      0 0 Reply
  3. Brewster's Angle Grinder Silver badge

    It's not much more fun on OSX.

    2 2 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
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      Anonymous Coward

      It's not much more fun on OSX

      The sad thing is that in its origins iTunes was really quite good.

      1 0 Reply

  4. This post has been deleted by its author

  5. psychonaut

    would you like me to erase all your data?

    hi , itunes here, youve either rebuilt your pc or are using a new one..

    wait. oh my god. its not the same pc the shiny thing was synced with before.

    whats that? youve copied all your data from the old install to the new one? except for a few things that you put directly on the shiny? that you cant get access to?

    well, just for me, id really like to just erase everything on the ithing and start again. is that ok?

    sorry, whats that? no...no you cant do that. why would you want to get stuff off the ithing before i wipe it? no, i think, err, yes, drm maybe? yes, thats the reason. wait ...no ...dont cancel. your going to do what? use 3rd party software to actually get access to the shiny? no...surely thats not allowed..no wait...WAIT...WAAAAAIiiittt.

    fucking itunes / apple bullshit. just let me get my (customers) stuff please?

    10 2 Reply
  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    smug

    Haha.. nothing is safe from Windows, the cancer of IT.

    3 5 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: smug

      Watch the down-votes from Linux users who disagree ;-)

      5 1 Reply
      1. MyffyW Silver badge
        Reply Icon
        Paris Hilton

        Re: smug

        Windows can't kill you, however hard it tries. Rather, it will irritate you throughout your adult life, no matter how virtuous you are. A bit like a yeast infection...

        1 0 Reply
  7. jcitron

    "Apple computers don't have viruses" according to all fan bois that use them. We know this isn't true, but try convincing them. The problem is they don't have any antivirus software installed to notify them that their machines are infected!

    Does it matter that the current iPhones and iPads are vulnerable? This won't be an issue in 6-months when the new ones come out and all the Apple device users will flock over them anyway.

    0 0 Reply
    1. t.est
      Reply Icon

      @ jcitron

      1. Defenition of a Computer Virus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_virus

      Se part "Vulnerability of different operating systems to viruses" and look for the reference... compare that with:

      2. Defenition of Malware.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malware

      AV is only needed for just that Viruses. Some users use AV to shield them from being fooled with a trojan horse, that's fine. The problem is definitely not that we don't run AV software.

      I do have an AV program, I use it only to scan some windows files now and then, like once or twice every fifth year. Yeah I'm a fanboi.

      0 1 Reply
      1. dogged
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        Re: @ jcitron

        > 1. Defenition of a Computer Virus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_virus

        > 2. Defenition of Malware.

        > I do have an AV program

        Have you considered getting a spellchecker as well?

        0 1 Reply
    2. chr0m4t1c
      Reply Icon

      @ jcitron

      I think someone needs a hug.

      0 0 Reply

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