It is believed that malicious advertising campaign is mainly aimed at users of Windows and Android, but the attackers are increasingly paying attention to iOS and Mac. Experts research firm MalwarebytesLabs found fraudulent campaign aimed at owners of iPhone and iPad. The organizers promote questionable free VPN-Secure My Mobile app through advertising on popular torrent trackers.
As reported by Securitylab, on the screen of the mobile device displays a notification that your iPad or iPhone is supposedly infected with malware and to remove it you need to download the free app My Mobile Secure. To activate it, the user is invited to join the research community MobileXpression.
“On your iPad discovered six viruses. Follow the instructions below to remove the virus with the device”.
According to information on the website of the service, MobileXpression is a research platform designed to study the behavior of mobile device users on the Internet, which is quite strange for a VPN application. The purpose of such products, on the contrary, is to anonymize user activity on the Internet, the researchers note.
The application collects a variety of data, including technical information about the gadget (hardware, installed applications, memory, etc.), the services of any network operator is the owner, contact details, information about online activity, the duration of the performed calls, text messages and e-mail headers are downloaded applications and files you use the camera and other tools on the device, etc.
As explained by the researchers, the VPN product does not have to collect such data. According to them, the choice of such a service should be treated with caution and pay attention to the developers of such applications, their policies and be guided only real testimonials about the product.
