How do I run an antivirus for my iPhone?
how do i run an antivirus for my iphone?
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
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how do i run an antivirus for my iphone?
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
That isn’t what Tim said. Read it again. But on the whole, that is correct. There has never been a virus discovered that infected iOS. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be one some day. Because of the architecture of iOS it would not be possible to create an antivirus for iOS because the antivirus would have to follow the same standards as all other apps; that is, no app can see the data of another app or see the internals of iOS.
That isn’t what Tim said. Read it again. But on the whole, that is correct. There has never been a virus discovered that infected iOS. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be one some day. Because of the architecture of iOS it would not be possible to create an antivirus for iOS because the antivirus would have to follow the same standards as all other apps; that is, no app can see the data of another app or see the internals of iOS.
Any add-on anti-malware package is indistinguishable from malware, and the internal mechanisms and internal security of iOS and iPadOS block that access.
More than a little of the anti-malware around is seemingly itself malware, too. Malware that doesn’t like to share. Some of it has uploaded and sold all of your activity. That’s anti-malware that has been selling your data. Not malware.
Apple scans app submissions, and blocks the interfaces that anti-malware would need to use. Those interfaces are the same sorts of interfaces that malware wants and needs, too.
Getting apps onto the iPhone or iPad involves downloading from the app store, or using Xcode or otherwise side-loading locally, and all but the app store is rarely encountered.
There is some malware available for iOS and iPadOS, but it’s only rarely encountered, and it’s very expensive. Unlike the market for Windows, iOS malware is targeted at specific folks. This means political dissidents, political activists, investigative reporters, and those with access to classified or sensitive or large-scale financial data. And add-on anti-malware won’t help against that stuff. And those folks have other risks.
Expensive malware? There have been million dollar bug bounties offered for iOS malware. And each use of the malware using those vulnerabilities risks exposing the exploits, which risks those exploits then being fixed.
What most iOS and iPhone folks get bagged by? Phishing. Social engineering. Getting faked out of an Apple ID password. Getting asked to add a rogue calendar containing spam appointments. Credential stuffing from password re-use. Anti-malware does little or nothing about those messes, too.
No, there’s no anti-malware for iOS or iPadOS or watchOS or tvOS.
And what anti-malware can access on macOS is getting locked down, too.
Nor for the vast majority of us would that anti-malware even be necessary.
And if you’re in one of the groups where heightened security is appropriate, there are other risks and mitigations to consider.
You don't need any Anti Viruses for Apple Devices
Also so long as the iOS version is intact and is not jailbroken there is no way for a true virus to work as by definition they have to be able to replicate to other apps. IOS is sandboxed and will not allow this replication to occur.
larinta wrote:
so you’re saying that iOS devices don’t get viruses?
Correct.
You don’t.
You simply be very careful about the places/sites you visit.
There are no known viruses in the wild that can affect an iOS device that is not jailbroken.
so you’re saying that iOS devices don’t get viruses?
I'm saying there are currently no known viruses in the wild that they can get.
Very Well Written. Thanks.
Axel F.
ps: Access to your iOS or iPadOS backups is how most of what’s around works. Encrypt those. Use a robust password.
How do I run an antivirus for my iPhone?