Oops … there is a bug in my Apple!

The new security hole found in iPhones and iPads reminds us that no platform is immune to security threats and that there is in fact a need for mobile security software for Apple products.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303365804576431541102701136.html

Here we go. As it turns out Apple mobile operating system is not so secure after all. While it is common perception that iPhones and iPads are so secure that they don’t even need antimalware software, the reality is that any piece of software is potentially defective and therefore vulnerable to attacks. And Apple is no exception as shown by the recent discovery of a new security flaw affecting Apple’s best selling devices. Even worse, previously discovered security issues in iOS were limited to a minority of jail-broken devices, where end users deliberately patch the standard operating system to escape Apple’s suffocating control on device and apps – see my beer side chat on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjbqI2V18sY.

What is new this time is the fact that the vulnerability affects the standard operating system, de-facto exposing the totality of users to this threat. It is also interesting to observe that the supposedly higher security standard built into the Apple apps store model is in fact more perception than reality. In this specific example the “bad app” causing the security issue is in fact the pdf reader and the “bad guys” involved are in fact highly respected companies such as Adobe and Apple itself. And while awaiting for a fix from Apple, “experts” recommend users to “avoid opening PDF documents from unknown sources, and surf only trusted websites”. Forgive me if I sound naive but how are users supposed to know the real source of a pdf file or even what websites to consider trustworthy? Perhaps a better advice would be to buy a good internet security software for iPhone and Ipad. But of course this would also mean to admit that these products are in fact as vulnerable as any other piece of software on earth and that the so much trumpeted Apple security is in fact a myth rather than reality.

Do you have an iPhone or an iPad and don’t know what websites to trust?

Have you lost your blind faith in Apple security?

Take a look at Trend Micro free smart surfing apps for iPhone http://free.antivirus.com/smart-surfing-for-iphone/ and drop me a comment to let me know how you like it.