What Is Malware and How Does It Affect Apple iOS Devices?
Malware is software that infects, damages, or steals data from your computer, mobile phone, or IoT device. It can be used to exfiltrate sensitive information such as passwords, bank account numbers, and credit card information, extort ransom money from victims or disable digital medical devices that keep patients alive or even erase competitive advantage by stealing industrial secrets and selling them on the dark web.
While it is possible for malware to infect Apple iOS devices (although rare) because of a lack of security protocols and an insecure server infrastructure, the more common ways that hackers infect devices include email attachments, rogue apps, and links from social media. Once an attacker has infected a device, they can remotely control it to do what they want.
The term “Malware” was coined in 1990 by Yisrael Radai to describe unwanted software, and the first modern malware virus, Elk Cloner, spread via floppy disks on Apple II systems in 1982. While the Elk Cloner virus didn’t do any direct harm to the system, it did infiltrate computers, so it fit the malware definition.
Since then, cybercriminals have developed a multitude of ways to attack users and devices. These range from adware that displays rogue advertisements or piggybacks on other programs to hijack them to cryptojacking, where an attacker uses computing power to mine for cryptocurrency without the user’s knowledge. Other examples of malware include worms that spread over instant messaging networks like AIM, MSN, and Yahoo Messenger; trojans, which steal and then transmit user credentials; and ransomware, which locks down the device until a victim pays a fee, such as bitcoins.