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It's really not hard to avoid getting a virus when installing arbitrary apps, even on Windows, for which nearly all viruses are written - just download reputabl
by endtime 17y ago
It's really not hard to avoid getting a virus when installing arbitrary apps, even on Windows, for which nearly all viruses are written - just download reputable apps from reputable sites. Not hard.
The iPhone has a full web browser, though, which is a much more likely point of entry for malicious code.
- derefr 17y agoMobile Safari doesn't run any sorts of code, other than Javascript. No Flash, Java or any Mac equivalent to ActiveX—and without hooks to those, the JS can't really do anything either. I suppose you could find a vulnerability in the app itself, but iPhone apps are themselves sandboxed to prevent installing code without getting an elevation prompt (which is what that "Login with your iTunes account" prompt really is.) To your first point, though: I thought you were talking about listing arbitrary apps in the central App Store without vetting them. People trust things that, like you said, come from reputable sites. The App Store is seen in its entirety as a "reputable site," no matter which publisher actually wrote the app. I'm all for allowing you to just surf to an .ipa file and download/install it, but don't allow people to list a trojan-horse "Apple Remote" right beside the actual "Remote" without creating some form of community filtering or known-developer verification.
- edmccaffrey 17y ago> I suppose you could find a vulnerability in the app itself, but iPhone apps are themselves sandboxed to prevent installing code without getting an elevation prompt (which is what that "Login with your iTunes account" prompt really is.) There used to be a site that you browse to in mobile Safari, and it would jailbreak the phone. A potential vulnerability in the app itself is probably what he meant.
- endtime 17y agoExcellent example - thanks. I did mean in the app itself, rather than some kind of plugin.