Malware Apps on iOS & iPadOS

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Level 1

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Malware Apps on iOS & iPadOS

Hi,

The following apps (blank logos - see photo) showed up on my families iPhones & iPads following the introduction of iOS & iPadOS 15 and the new App Privacy Reports. After I documented their existence with screenshots, they disappeared and a new app showed up on my devices entitled "Recently Deleted Apps" (photo below). It too disappeared not long after. I have had clear malware issues on my devices, and these appear to be incredibly sophisticated. Could you have someone with serious expertise take a look?

Springboard

Safari (notice there are 2 Safari apps present - one with logo, one without)

Search

Here is the "Recently Deleted Apps" photo:

iPad Pro, iPadOS 15

Posted on Feb 11, 2022 9:32 AM

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Answer 1

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Phil0124

Community+ 2024

Level 10

207,023 points

Feb 14, 2022 8:24 AM in response to TheSaturday

It would only show up if said apps had used power during the show period before there where deleted and that was still the active period.

The blank icon Apps are perfectly normal. As I said Search is the Search and Springboard is the Home Screen manager, I am certain of this. They don't actually have any icons for them.

Here's mine with the Recently Deleted Apps section:

Cydia is not Malware. Cydia is a Jailbreak App and would appear as such on a Home Screen, and battery usage.

Also, unless you left your iPhone unlocked and unattended with someone with a computer for an extended period of time it is not possible to install it without your knowledge.

Cloning your SIM card and hacking your iPhone are 2 different things.

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Answer 2

Feb 11, 2022 9:58 AM in response to TheSaturday

This is a user to user forum. Apple Support or their internal experts are not here.
The recently deleted apps section in battery usage is a group tag that encompasses any apps that were deleted and as such can no longer be identified on their own for battery usage. It may go away after a while if no other apps get deleted. I.e its a temporary category if apps where deleted within the current period for Battery usage.
The blank icon apps in the Privacy report are normal. Both search and Springboard are built in apps in iOS. Search is, the regular search, and Springboard is the internal app that runs and manages the Home Screen.
The secondary Safari App, is a bit strange, but would not really think its cause for concern. It may just be an old version of Safari if it has been recently updated. Or just another instance with as glitched icon.

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Answer 3

TheSaturday Author

Level 1

11 points

Feb 11, 2022 10:25 AM in response to Phil0124

Thanks for the response. I appreciate your sharing the explanations, but I've been very attentive to these issues for years, and this was the first time Recently Deleted Apps had ever shown up in battery usage. Doesn't really seem to matter how many apps I delete, it never showed up previously, and hasn't returned. Might be interesting if you try deleting a bunch of apps and see if it shows up. Please document if able to show this.

To be clear, are you sure those blank logo apps are normal, or is that a guess on your part based on those having the same name as actual components of iOS? One of the benefits of naming malware apps after actual apps is that reports and analytics will appear to be legitimate to the user. I'm sure you can understand this would be great camouflage for actual malware. Showing up as "Cydia" or another obvious malware variant would obviously be a red flag, while this can pass by a casual glance. Would be useful if you could find someone else with those logos on their App Privacy Report. If you can't, let's avoid guesses please.

It was also the first and only time those no-logo apps showed up, and they haven't appeared since. There's been a lot more issues, such as confirmation from Verizon that my SIM card had been cloned, etc., so don't be so quick to write it off. If I may request from future responses, please respond with evidence and avoid guesses please.

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Malware Apps on iOS & iPadOS

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