Security holes discovered in iPhones, iPads

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A new security hole has opened up in Apple

Inc.’s iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices, raising alarms about

the susceptibility of some of the world’s hottest tech gadgets to

hacker attacks.

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Flaws in the software running those devices came to light after a

German security agency warned that criminals could use them to

steal confidential data off the devices. Apple, the world’s largest

technology company by market value, said Thursday that it is

working on a fix that will be distributed in an upcoming software

upgrade.

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With the security hole, an attacker can get malicious software onto

a device by tricking its owner into clicking an infected PDF file.

Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security called the flaws

“critical weaknesses” in Apple’s iOS operating system.

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Internet-connected mobile devices are still subject to fewer

attacks than personal computer, but they could eventually prove a

juicy target for hackers because they are warehouses of

confidential banking, e-mail, calendar, contact and other

data.

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Software vulnerabilities are discovered all the time. What makes

the latest discovery alarming is that the weaknesses are already

being actively exploited – albeit in a consensual way.

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The latest concerns were prompted by the emergence of a new version

of a program to allow Apple devices to run any software and

circumvent the restrictions that Apple notoriously retains over

software distributed through its online store. There are security

risks of doing so, but many people find it liberating to install

their own software.

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Although this program is something people would seek out, the

weaknesses that its authors discovered could easily be used for

malice, security experts say.

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There is an irony in the controversy: The site distributing the

program offers a fix for the problem, but to get the fix, a user

has to first install the program in question. So a user must defy

Apple’s restrictions to get the protection until Apple comes up

with a fix of its own.

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Charlie Miller, a prominent hacker of Apple products, said it

likely took months to develop the program to break Apple’s

restrictions, but a criminal might need only a day or two to modify

it for nefarious purposes.

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Apple Inc. spokeswoman Bethan Lloyd said Thursday the company is

“aware of this reported issue and developing a fix.” She would not

say when the update will be available.

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One reason for gadget owners to take heart: Attacks on smartphones

and other Internet gadgets are still relatively rare. One reason is

PC-based attacks are still highly lucrative. Still, vulnerabilities

such as the ones Apple is confronting show that consumers should

take care of securing their mobile devices as they would their home

computer.

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“These things are computers – they’re just small, portable

computers that happen to have a phone tacked onto them,” said Marc

Fossi, manager of research and development for Symantec Security

Response. “You’ve got to treat them more like a computer than a

phone. You have to be aware of what’s going on with these

devices.”

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