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- They started overtaking: scammers began to attack iPhone owners more often than Android users
They started overtaking: scammers began to attack iPhone owners more often than Android users
iPhone owners suffer from scams more often than Android users. This is due to their risky behavior due to their confidence in the security of their smartphone, American cybersecurity experts said. Izvestia found out how cybercriminals attack people with iPhones and what protection methods exist.
Research data
iPhone owners become victims of scams more often than Android users. They are careless about security issues, according to a recent study by Malwarebytes, an American cybersecurity software developer.
According to the company, 53% of iPhone users suffered from fraud, while among Android owners this figure was 48%. Also, 47% of iPhone owners made purchases on questionable sites, hoping for low prices, while 40% of Android users had such purchases.
The study found that only 21% of iPhone users install third-party antivirus software, compared with 29% among Android owners. In addition, fans of Apple technology are less likely to use unique passwords for various services (35% versus 41% for Android users).
Malwarebytes analysts attribute these differences to the psychological perception of security, rather than the technical characteristics of the platforms. More than half of iPhone users (55%) believe that their devices are inherently protected from any threats, which leads to disregard for the basics of digital security.
Despite the fact that iOS remains one of the most secure and closed operating systems, Malwarebytes experts remind that no platform is completely invulnerable, and urge users to be careful.
Hacker's Choice
Russian cybersecurity experts believe that there is no connection between which operating system a person uses and how often they suffer from fraud. Absolutely any user with low technical literacy can become a victim.
— The whole logic of modern mass cyber attacks is that they attack vulnerable devices, not users. If you do not take into account phishing, which does not matter at all what you use, then if a vulnerability appears in iOS, it will be attacked, and if an interesting exploit for Android appears, make no mistake, they will get to such smartphones," Sergey Gazinformservice, head of the IT infrastructure solutions protection group, tells Izvestia. Polunin.
At the same time, according to the expert, statistics will differ from country to country. For example, in the United States, more than 57% of the population uses an iPhone, while in China, more than 80% of residents prefer Android devices. That is, mathematically, the number of successful attacks will depend on the geography of vulnerability exploitation.
— Plus, the city factor plays a role. Although Android devices are more popular among Russians, in large cities, especially in Moscow, young and middle-aged people prefer iOS. In addition, business and economic activity is high in megacities, so fraudsters are more likely to attack their residents," adds Maxim Alexandrov, an expert on Security Code software products.
At the same time, he notes, in the case of Russians, Apple itself is playing into the hands of fraudsters. The company removes various official applications from the AppStore, such as banks, and now it has become the norm to install software that is also considered official, but is called something else. This is often used by scammers who create their own application that mimics the official one, but is actually malicious.
iPhone Vulnerabilities
As Dmitry Galov, head of Kaspersky GReAT in Russia, explains to Izvestia, the iOS system was indeed designed to be as secure as possible: so that important functions (for example, sending SMS or calls) would not be available to third-party applications or the user would not be able to install applications from third-party sources. However, this does not mean that there are no cyber threats for Apple smartphones.
— For example, iPhone owners may encounter phishing schemes in which they will try to extort Apple ID credentials from them. One option is for a person to receive an email allegedly from Apple support, in which they are asked to urgently change their account password by clicking on the link. In fact, he is lured to a phishing site, where he is asked to enter his Apple ID (it is used to access iCloud and other Apple services). Once they have them, attackers will be able to access many other data on the smartphone or remotely block it," says Galov.
In addition, iOS users are at risk of encountering various malicious and scam applications. For example, this year Kaspersky Lab specialists discovered two new stylers, SparkCat and SparkKitty, both of which were able to enter the App Store.
— SparkCat was distributed as part of infected messengers, an AI assistant, applications for food delivery and for access to a crypto exchange. On the infected smartphone, he requested access to view photos, analyzed the text on the images in the gallery and, if he found keywords, sent the picture to the attackers. The attackers' goal was to gain access to crypto wallets," the expert explains.
In the App Store, steeler posed as an application for tracking cryptocurrency exchange rates and receiving trading signals. However, users could also infect the device with the SparkKitty Trojan on fake resources mimicking the App Store, where the malware was distributed as part of TikTok modifications and gambling—related applications.
— And, of course, it is important to take into account that smartphone owners, regardless of the OS, run the risk of phone fraud, various phishing schemes and scams, — Galov concludes.
Methods of protection
Vladimir Ulyanov, head of the Zecurion analytical center, notes in an interview with Izvestia that the figures in the American study do not differ dramatically — and more frequent attacks on owners of Apple equipment cannot be called a trend. At the same time, the difference in behavior between Android and iPhone users is really noticeable, and it affects security.
— The key point is the false sense of security that iPhone users may experience. They are more likely to trust the security mechanisms provided by the developer. As a result, this feeling forms a more risky behavior model of "my device is securely protected." But in most cases, the target of the attack is not the device itself, but its owner, a person," Ulyanov notes.
Therefore, cybersecurity experts urge smartphone users on any platform to take precautions: do not click on questionable links, do not download third-party applications, critically review messages, invitations and offers, and update the operating system in a timely manner.
— Download programs only from official resources — from app stores or websites of development companies, but before that, study the reviews and see the rating. Do not store confidential information in your smartphone's gallery or in text notes. Do not jailbreak (the procedure for obtaining the superuser rights of the software. — Author's note) — this procedure significantly reduces the cybersecurity level of the smartphone. And finally, use a reliable security solution on all your devices," concludes Dmitry Galov.
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