Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

Another app seems to have abused the iOS enterprise certificate in order to bypass Apple’s App Store rules. Security researchers have discovered the iOS counterpart of a dangerous Android spyware strain that was seen earlier this year on the official Google Play Store. Researchers found Exodus spyware, originally designed for Android, can now target iPhone users.

Researchers have now found that one of these spyware products, which had previously been found on the Google Play Store, also targeted iOS. After researchers contacted Apple, the company revoked the app’s enterprise certificate, making it impossible to install it on an iOS device.

The spyware is named Exodus and was developed by Italian app maker Connexxa, a known provider of surveillance tools to Italian authorities. An earlier version of the spyware app was discovered on Android last year. The Android version of the app had gained root access to the phones of hundreds of victims — so developers could read Wi-Fi passwords and users’ emails as well as data from apps like Facebook, Gmail, WhatsApp, Viber, and WeChat. Lookout also contacted Google last year and worked together to remove the apps from the Play Store.

At the Kaspersky Security Analyst Summit in Singapore this week, researchers from the mobile security firm Lookout will present findings on the iOS version of the spyware known as Exodus. The nonprofit Security Without Borders published details of the Android version in conjunction with Motherboard at the end of March. The fact that Exodus has an iOS version, though, shows the impressive reach of the malware and the resources behind it.

The researchers said they did not know how many Apple users were affected.

Connexxa did not respond to a request for comment. Apple did not comment.

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