Malware campaign dubbed Operation Pawn Storm
Posted by: Timothy Weaver on 02/05/2015 11:05 AM
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A new type of spyware is making the rounds and affecting iOS devices.
The new malware campaign is dubbed Operation Pawn Storm by security industry people; the app is called XAgent. If the user allows the app to install, it can collect text messages, contact lists, pictures, geolocation data and information from installed apps on an iOS device. It reports back the data to a control server.
The most vulnerable devices are iPhones.
Fortunately, for iOS 8 devices, the user will see multiple notifications that the phone is trying to install an app. And it can’t run without the user launching. On a device running iOS 7, XAgent could install itself, and it does not show up as an app icon on the interface.
“The good thing for users is that this isn’t something that can be automatically done,” Trend Micro executive Jon Clay told Macworld. “There are steps you have to do as a user to install this.”
In iOS 8 the user must launch the XAgent app before it can do any damage.
The new malware campaign is dubbed Operation Pawn Storm by security industry people; the app is called XAgent. If the user allows the app to install, it can collect text messages, contact lists, pictures, geolocation data and information from installed apps on an iOS device. It reports back the data to a control server.
The most vulnerable devices are iPhones.
Fortunately, for iOS 8 devices, the user will see multiple notifications that the phone is trying to install an app. And it can’t run without the user launching. On a device running iOS 7, XAgent could install itself, and it does not show up as an app icon on the interface.
“The good thing for users is that this isn’t something that can be automatically done,” Trend Micro executive Jon Clay told Macworld. “There are steps you have to do as a user to install this.”
In iOS 8 the user must launch the XAgent app before it can do any damage.
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