Discover Yahoo! With Your Friends

Explore news, videos, and much more based on what your friends are reading and watching. Publish your own activity and retain full control.

To get started, first

YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    Apple boots iOS developer for exposing a security bug

    By Jeffrey Van Camp | Digital Trends – Tue, Nov 8, 2011

    Companies like Google and Facebook reward hackers with monetary incentives for finding bugs and security holes in their software. Apple has taken the opposite approach. TG Daily reports that security researcher Charlie Miller was ousted from the iOS developer program after revealing a security flaw in iPhones and iPads. He discovered, and made public, that it’s possible to create an app for the App Store that passes all of Apple’s security sweeps but still downloads malware onto the device and does bad things. His app, called InstaStock and masked as a stock trading app, was able to access photos and contacts as well as make the device vibrate or play sounds, all of which are typically restricted on iOS.

     ”The user doesn’t know anything’s going on, it just looks like a normal app,” he says. “I can grab any file I want – here is, for example, the address book.”

    Unfortunately, though it was necessary for his research, Apple did not take kindly to Miller uploading malware to the App Store. He was booted from the developer program despite the fact that he publicly stated that his app was for research and warned Apple of the hole in their system. 

    “OMG, Apple just kicked me out of the iOS Developer program. That’s so rude!” said Miller on Twitter. “First they give researchers access to developer programs (although I paid for mine), then they kick them out…for doing research. I thought they’d just remove the app and we’d still be friends.”

    Apple has not commented on the situation. 

    This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

    More from Digital Trends

    Our favorite hidden features of iOS 5

    Apple iOS 5: Everything you need to know

    Facebook iPad app wrapped up inside iPhone app; UPDATE: Facebook blocks the app

    Why did Apple choose Twitter over Facebook for iOS 5?

     
     
    Top Locations Plano

    13 comments

    • blackhat
      blackhat  •  6 mths ago
      They're acting like Microsoft did back in the 90's. Lame.
    • Caleb
      Caleb  •  Plano, United States  •  6 mths ago
      ....heavy lies the crown.
    • Joe Guy
      Joe Guy  •  6 mths ago
      "He discovered, and made public"
    • Joe Guy
      Joe Guy  •  6 mths ago
      "He discovered, and made public"#$%$ The appropriate steps to take would be to contact Apple directly and let them know. This makes EVERY customer of Apple's iphone and Ipad a potential victim until they are able to push a fix out. That could take weeks and even then, may still leave countless people vulnerable.This dude should definitely be shunned from the community for being an irresponsible #$%$
    • Richard J
      Richard J  •  6 mths ago
      He made proprietary information public. What did he expect?
    • X
      X  •  6 mths ago
      You just made an enemy of someone able to infiltrate your products? Brilliant.
    • drone
      drone  •  6 mths ago
      Not cool. Google will probably sweep him up, Apple's loss
      • Richard J
        Richard J 6 mths ago
        Don't be so sure. No company wants blabbermouths working on confidential material. "Loose lips sink ships."
    • Don
      Don  •  6 mths ago
      I guess Apple felt that it tarnished their image of perfection, but those of us who have experience in programming realize that such gaps are quite common and hard to detect without exhaustive and excessive testing. Even then, there is no way to guarantee that any software is fail proof. There are just too many variables and possible combinations of conditions to evaluate all of them. In most cases with software of any sophistication, there are billions of possible sets of conditions that would take centuries to test for.
    • Lynne Marton
      Lynne Marton  •  6 mths ago
      BAD APPLE!!!!!! You don't bite the programmer that feeds you the info!!!!!!
    • Philip
      Philip  •  6 mths ago
      If youre working at the company, you bring attention to the security flaw INSIDE the company, not put it out for the whole world...he deserved to be fired
      • A Yahoo! User 6 mths ago
        He did not work for them. He did violate the iOS developer legal agreement that governs the program, whatever his intentions. (And he has a history of being a first-class #$%$)
      • Bill
        Bill 6 mths ago
        He was NOT INSIDE Apple. Re-read the article. He was independent developer for iOS.
    • stormtiger
      stormtiger  •  6 mths ago
      Which would make me think twice before buying an Apple product. If it has a flaw, are they gonna bother to tell me or will I find it out only after I get hacked?
    • Anthony
      Anthony  •  6 mths ago
      Apple will never change. I haven't bought one of their lemons in decades and have no plan to ever buy another.
    • A Yahoo! User  •  6 mths ago
      Finkle is Einhorn, and Apple is Microsoft.
     Post a comment
    [ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['Titanic', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/titanic-anniversary/', ' ', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/b/4e/b4e5ad9f00b5dfeeec2226d53e173569.jpeg', '550', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]
    [ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

    News For You

    Loading...