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Facebook virus

U

UKapple

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 9, 2012
164
79
Hi guys, I just opened up a personal message in my facebook app on my iphone (lastest most up to date version) from a friend and stupidly clicked on a link for what was supposed to be a photo. This then took me to a blank page with the same link listed at the top and read something along the lines of I had been redirected there. Anyway I clicked back and went back into the newsfeed after deleting the message.

So it would appear that the message is some sort of virus/ malware. I have since changed my facebook password and deleted and reinstalled the app, cleared my search history and rebooted my phone.

So my question is could this facebook issue have installed a virus on my phone (if it was one) or compromised my security at all? My phone is not jailbroken either.

Thanks
 
Since your phone is not jailbroken you are definitely fine. Most likely if it really was a virus of some sort it would be targeted at PCs and wouldn't do anything to a device running something other than windows.
 
UKapple said:
So my question is could this facebook issue have installed a virus on my phone (if it was one) or compromised my security at all? My phone is not jailbroken either.
Click to expand...
No, you couldn't have gotten a virus on your iPhone, since there are none. You're safe.
 
I feel slightly guilty now about the negative comments I have made about apple in the past! their security on iOS appears to be legendary ! : )
 
UKapple said:
Hi guys, I just opened up a personal message in my facebook app on my iphone (lastest most up to date version) from a friend and stupidly clicked on a link for what was supposed to be a photo. This then took me to a blank page with the same link listed at the top and read something along the lines of I had been redirected there. Anyway I clicked back and went back into the newsfeed after deleting the message.

So it would appear that the message is some sort of virus/ malware. I have since changed my facebook password and deleted and reinstalled the app, cleared my search history and rebooted my phone.

So my question is could this facebook issue have installed a virus on my phone (if it was one) or compromised my security at all? My phone is not jailbroken either.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Chill.. It's nothing .. May be a small bug .. Ur using an iphone! If anything weird happens ur phone will still be virus free...
 
Out of curiosity and since I was considering a move to android, would the situation above have posed more of a risk on a android device?
 
UKapple said:
Out of curiosity and since I was considering a move to android, would the situation above have posed more of a risk on a android device?
Click to expand...

Slightly, yes. But I wouldn't sweat it. This isn't like the early Windows days.
 
But in those days I didn't store any personal or sensitive date on my phone!
 
Yeah I agree, these sorts if things have always existed in some shape or form but I guess as technology has moved forward so has the sophistication of the threats
 
You got redirected to a blank page so you jump to the conclusion it was a virus?

It may well have been a legit link, but was broken at the time you viewed it (too much traffic on the site for example). Or more likely, it was spam, and would be a bunch of ads.
 
If it was something untoward at worst it could be something that will post similar spam links on your timeline or message friends. I'd check your Facebook permissions in settings for any rouge apps and make sure nothing you've not posted's been put on your timeline, check for any sent private messages recently you've not sent yourself. As others have said, your phone will be fine, changing your Facebook password is a good precaution to take too.
 
sammy-boy said:
If it was something untoward at worst it could be something that will post similar spam links on your timeline or message friends. I'd check your Facebook permissions in settings for any rouge apps and make sure nothing you've not posted's been put on your timeline, check for any sent private messages recently you've not sent yourself. As others have said, your phone will be fine, changing your Facebook password is a good precaution to take too.
Click to expand...


Thanks. I'll take a look at the apps section just in case.
 
Saying you can't get viruses/malware/etc is very naive.

There's no such thing as perfect software. iOS included. It can and will be exploited and, until such time as those exploits are patched, its' users will be vulnerable.
 
matttye said:
Saying you can't get viruses/malware/etc is very naive.

There's no such thing as perfect software. iOS included. It can and will be exploited and, until such time as those exploits are patched, its' users will be vulnerable.
Click to expand...

Just like OS X, no one is saying iOS is immune to malware, only that no viruses currently exist for either platform. If that changes in the future, appropriate defenses will emerge. Historically, new exploits only affect a microscopic fraction of users before they are reported, made news and defenses made available.
 
GGJstudios said:
Just like OS X, no one is saying iOS is immune to malware, only that no viruses currently exist for either platform. If that changes in the future, appropriate defenses will emerge. Historically, new exploits only affect a microscopic fraction of users before they are reported, made news and defenses made available.
Click to expand...

You mean none are currently known for either platform.

I'm sure there are plenty of security researchers that discover exploits and help the companies patch them before they go wild.

Did you hear that it took determined hackers 3 weeks to write an exploit for the 4S that allowed them to steal data from a fully patched iPhone? That was part of the "Pwn2own" competition and they won $30k for doing it. Read here.

I appreciate that was two years ago, but the iPhone was considered super secure back then as well :p Who says the same can't happen again?

I think the point is that as soon as any sniff of an exploit goes into the wild, Apple will patch it. It would therefore be in hackers' interests not to go around shouting about any vulnerabilities they find. I believe there are lots of unpatched exploits that we don't know about. They're just not used, because if they became popular Apple would patch them promptly, like you rightly said.

I'm sure a lot of grey hat hackers find exploits and then try to seek compensation from Apple for their work.
 
matttye said:
I'm sure a lot of grey hat hackers find exploits and then try to seek compensation from Apple for their work.
Click to expand...

Most of the people looking for exploits are wanting to use them for jailbreaking. And if you've noticed how long it takes to get a working jailbreak going whenever Apple updates iOS that can give you a good idea of how hard it is to find an exploit that lets you run unsigned code on iOS.
 
mrkramer said:
Most of the people looking for exploits are wanting to use them for jailbreaking. And if you've noticed how long it takes to get a working jailbreak going whenever Apple updates iOS that can give you a good idea of how hard it is to find an exploit that lets you run unsigned code on iOS.
Click to expand...


It might take hobbyists a while but people who work in software security for a living might not take so long. Like I posted before, a couple of hackers managed to put together a fully working exploit in 3 weeks.
 
matttye said:
You mean none are currently known for either platform.

I'm sure there are plenty of security researchers that discover exploits and help the companies patch them before they go wild.

Did you hear that it took determined hackers 3 weeks to write an exploit for the 4S that allowed them to steal data from a fully patched iPhone? That was part of the "Pwn2own" competition and they won $30k for doing it.
Click to expand...
A hacking competition for a cash reward is completely different than introducing malware into the wild that can affect large numbers of users. No one is saying it can't be done, only that it hasn't been done.
 
GGJstudios said:
A hacking competition for a cash reward is completely different than introducing malware into the wild that can affect large numbers of users. No one is saying it can't be done, only that it hasn't been done.
Click to expand...


Completely agree with you.

I'm not saying viruses/malware are a massive concern on iOS or OS X, just that it's something to keep in mind.

Being wilfully ignorant of these things is irresponsible given the amount of personal data we keep on our phones. I would not advocate visiting random, untrusted websites because you never know which one will be testing out an exploit...
 
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