Apple on Monday announced a hefty round of security updates that address dozens of vulnerabilities impacting both newer and older iOS and macOS devices. iOS 17.6 and iPadOS 17.6 were released for the latest generation iPhone and iPad devices with fixes for 35 security defects that could lead to authentication and policy bypasses, unexpected application termination or system shutdown, information disclosure, denial-of-service (DoS), and memory leaks.
Vulnerabilities in CocoaPods Open the Door to Supply Chain Attacks Against Thousands of iOS and MacOS Applications
E.V.A Information Security researchers uncovered several vulnerabilities in the CocoaPods dependency manager that allows any malicious actor to claim ownership over thousands of unclaimed pods and insert malicious code into many of the most popular iOS and MacOS applications. These vulnerabilities have since been patched. Such an attack on the mobile app ecosystem could infect almost every Apple device, leaving thousands of organizations vulnerable to catastrophic financial and reputational damage. One of the vulnerabilities could also enable zero day attacks against the most advanced and secure organizations’ infrastructure. Developers and DevOps teams that have used CocoaPods in recent years should verify the integrity of open source dependencies used in their application code. * Dependency managers are an often-overlooked aspect of software supply chain security. Security leaders should explore ways to increase governance and oversight over the use these tools.
Safari Flaw Can Expose iPhone Users in the EU to Tracking
Apple's implementation of installing marketplace apps from Safari is heavily flawed and can allow a malicious marketplace to track users across websites
We analyzed third-party keyboard apps Tencent QQ, Baidu, and iFlytek, on the Android, iOS, and Windows platforms. Along with Tencent Sogou, they comprise over 95% of the market share for third-party keyboard apps in China. This is an FAQ for the full report titled "The not-so-silent type: Vulnerabilities across keyboard apps reveal keystrokes to network eavesdroppers."
Jamf says 9% of smartphone have fallen for phishing attacks
In a report going over the state of malware in 2024, device management firm Jamf says that 9% of mobile users were caught by phishing, while 20% of companies were at risk because of bad smartphone configurations.
Gold Rush is back to APAC: Group-IB unveils first iOS trojan stealing your face
Group-IB, a leading creator of cybersecurity technologies to investigate, prevent, and fight digital crime, has uncovered a new iOS Trojan designed to steal users’ facial recognition data, identity documents, and intercept SMS. The Trojan, dubbed GoldPickaxe.iOS by Group-IB’s Threat Intelligence unit, has been attributed to a Chinese-speaking threat actor codenamed GoldFactory, responsible for developing a suite of highly sophisticated banking Trojans that also includes the earlier discovered GoldDigger and newly identified GoldDiggerPlus, GoldKefu, and GoldPickaxe for Android. To exploit the stolen biometric data, the threat actor utilizes AI face-swapping services to create deepfakes by replacing their faces with those of the victims. This method could be used by cybercriminals to gain unauthorized access to the victim’s banking account – a new fraud technique, previously unseen by Group-IB researchers. The GoldFactory Trojans target the Asia-Pacific region, specifically — Thailand and Vietnam impersonating local banks and government organizations. Group-IB’s discovery also marks a rare instance of malware targeting Apple’s mobile operating system. The detailed technical description of the Trojans, analysis of their technical capabilities, and the list of relevant indicators of compromise can be found in Group-IB’s latest blog post.
