SuperNMY

Q: How do i get rid of a iPhone Virus?

I have now for the second time a strange virus on my Iphone 5, iOs 6.1.4 It opens randomly the pre-installed apple apps like Newsstand, Settings, Notes etc. and changes settings there. The first time I had it, it sent a message with "awkward" to one of my contacts. This time it changed my wallpaper. I haven't jailbreaked my iPhone. How do I get rid of this ****? It seems to help to switch the Wifi off. A reset of the settings did work the first time but not now. Thanks for your help!

iPhone 5, iOS 6.1.4

Posted on Aug 12, 2013 3:28 AM

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Q: How do i get rid of a iPhone Virus?

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  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch Jan 30, 2014 6:51 AM in response to XP45
    Level 8 (38,093 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 30, 2014 6:51 AM in response to XP45

    The only solution is to not use the website if you don't like the links it hosts. Or contact the webmaster and complain. You can go to Settings/Safari and turn on Block Popups. That will stop some of them. But any site that does this is not to be trusted.

  • by XP45,

    XP45 XP45 Jan 30, 2014 8:14 AM in response to Lawrence Finch
    Level 1 (9 points)
    iPhone
    Jan 30, 2014 8:14 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

    I did contact the webmaster already. It is not a link they host and no one else has had this issue. I did turn on Block Popups already. And frequent delete cookies and data.

     

    I have done all this. What I need is information on how to remove this spyware from my iPhone.

  • by deggie,

    deggie deggie Jan 30, 2014 8:27 AM in response to XP45
    Level 9 (54,676 points)
    iPhone
    Jan 30, 2014 8:27 AM in response to XP45

    It isn't spyware on your iPhone unless you, or someone else, has jailbroken your iPhone. It is possible that your router has been hijacked.

     

    You can follow the suggestions given here about resetting, restoring, etc. but there is no software available that removes spyware from a phone as there is no spyware to remove. If you suspect your iPhone has been jailbroken by someone else you can put it in DFU mode and Restore it as a new iPhone. This will remove everything from the iPhone.

  • by XP45,

    XP45 XP45 Jan 30, 2014 9:39 AM in response to deggie
    Level 1 (9 points)
    iPhone
    Jan 30, 2014 9:39 AM in response to deggie

    OK, if it's not spyware then what is it?  When I search for a.tribalfusion.com I get all kind of info about it being a nasty bit of spyware that is very hard to detect and very hard to get rid of.  This phone has never been jailbroken. I appreciate all the virus/spyware denials but it's not helping.

  • by deggie,

    deggie deggie Jan 30, 2014 9:42 AM in response to XP45
    Level 9 (54,676 points)
    iPhone
    Jan 30, 2014 9:42 AM in response to XP45

    It is a very old spyware application that ran on older versions of Windows.

     

    If you are running a version of Windows XP or Windows Vista on your iPhone you should be concerned.

  • by thomas_r.,

    thomas_r. thomas_r. Jan 30, 2014 11:13 AM in response to XP45
    Level 7 (30,924 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 30, 2014 11:13 AM in response to XP45

    I'm still unclear on what you're seeing. If you're being redirected to a.tribalfusion.com when browsing a particular site, that site is doing it. Either it's a bad site or it has been hacked somehow.

     

    If it's happening frequently, across a broad range of sites, including big-name sites that don't use advertising or redirects (like Apple.com, for example), then the issue is likely to be a problem with your network... perhaps a compromised router, perhaps DNS poisoning, perhaps something else.

     

    See:

     

    Eliminating browser redirects and advertisements

     

    (Note that the information at that link was written with the Mac in mind, but most of the info is still applicable to the iPad or iPhone.)

  • by XP45,

    XP45 XP45 Jan 31, 2014 1:04 AM in response to thomas_r.
    Level 1 (9 points)
    iPhone
    Jan 31, 2014 1:04 AM in response to thomas_r.

    Currently I have seen it with one site, but it happens so infrequently that it's hard to pin down. (Like once every other day.)  Info I found previously said it was activated by certain sites that used the same kind of cookies (although it seems to happen more frequently right after I've deleted all cookies).  So if it is the site, and not my phone, how is it that I'm the only one that has complained about it?  The site in question is avsforum.com which is an A/V forum site, and is not some shady operation. I had been using this site for months with no issues, then about a week ago I started getting the redirects.

     

    It is not my router as it happens both on wifi and AT&T cellular.

     

    Is there any way I or Genius Bar could search what is on my phone to make sure there's nothing there?  I don't see any way to even look at what cookies are on the iPhone.

  • by thomas_r.,

    thomas_r. thomas_r. Jan 31, 2014 5:00 AM in response to XP45
    Level 7 (30,924 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 31, 2014 5:00 AM in response to XP45

    It's that site, then. Forum software can be prone to such issues, since a forum is designed to accept input from users and then display it for other users. A malicious person can set up a fake user, then embed malicious code in their posts. This is very common. Unethical advertising outfits will farm out this kind of work to people whose jobs are just to sit there posting convincing-looking posts with hidden (or not-so-hidden) advertising over and over again on forums and in comment sections on blogs. You should see the spam that my own blog software filters out!

     

    The Genius Bar won't search your phone. There's nothing for them to find, in the first place. Plus, they don't have the time or the expertise to do such a search, even if there were something to find. At most, they will advise you to wipe your phone back to factory settings, which would just be a complete waste of your time in this case.

  • by XP45,

    XP45 XP45 Jan 31, 2014 6:00 AM in response to thomas_r.
    Level 1 (9 points)
    iPhone
    Jan 31, 2014 6:00 AM in response to thomas_r.

    I have now confirmed it is that site. One support chat with Apple, and they got the same redirect right away.

     

    Thanks for your help. I have been losing sleep over this.

  • by thomas_r.,

    thomas_r. thomas_r. Jan 31, 2014 6:16 AM in response to XP45
    Level 7 (30,924 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 31, 2014 6:16 AM in response to XP45

    Glad to hear that!

  • by LordHoagie,

    LordHoagie LordHoagie Mar 13, 2014 3:31 PM in response to SuperNMY
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 13, 2014 3:31 PM in response to SuperNMY

    I know this post is pretty old, but I have something to say to people arriving here with similar conditions.  I have a retired iPhone 4 (now serves as iPod touch) that had screen detection issues.  It had one column of sensor that would detect your "touch" from inches away.  And by inches away I don't mean the wrong part of the screen, I mean it would happen when you weren't touching the screen at all, but just hovering your hand in the air over the phone.  It seems that this individual could tell pretty well that this was not a detection issue, but if you are experiencing any issues similar to this, one troubleshooting step that you could take is to download a drawing application.  One that you can doodle in.  Open it up when the phone is acting up, and see if any patterns arise (mine was a solid thin vertical line through the right quarter of the screen that drew itself in as you passed your hand over it).  If nothing comes up or it closes the application and opens others, then who knows what's going on, just start resetting things of escalating pertinence like OP did and hope for the best I guess...

  • by puneetobhan,

    puneetobhan puneetobhan Mar 26, 2014 6:58 AM in response to SuperNMY
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 26, 2014 6:58 AM in response to SuperNMY

    Change the charging cable itshould work

  • by VaclavBatko,

    VaclavBatko VaclavBatko Mar 27, 2014 10:51 AM in response to SuperNMY
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 27, 2014 10:51 AM in response to SuperNMY

    Hello

    i think it could be problem with your digitalizer.

    its not software problem.Hardware problem.

    Broken / bad digitalizer could  behave like virus to some one

    Vaclav Batko

  • by Jamesmeyer,

    Jamesmeyer Jamesmeyer Mar 29, 2014 5:28 PM in response to Stansley
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 29, 2014 5:28 PM in response to Stansley

    My wife used to have this same problem when her phone was plugged in too. As soon as it was unplugged the behavior went away. I suspect there were inconsistent electrical impulses from the power source that rendered the screen inoperable. This only happened to us when it was plugged in to the car adaptor.

  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch Mar 29, 2014 7:25 PM in response to VaclavBatko
    Level 8 (38,093 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 29, 2014 7:25 PM in response to VaclavBatko

    .

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