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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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