iPhone Antivirus

Cybertron03 wrote:

Aren't you concerned about you're data ? I have Antivirus protection on my android & personal computer. It doesn't seem to work on iPhone though, it's concerning.

Just to add to others, an AV app on iOS would be pointless as that app would be no different than any other, and this would have no access to any file or data space other than its own. It would be incapable of scanning anything but its own code. And, since there are no virus in the wild for iOS, it's scan engine would have almost no data to use to recognize malicious code or exploits.

And a quick P.S. - for online banking and financial or sensitive activities, if your institution offers an app, you're best off using that. Banking Apps, for example, will use end-to-end encrypted connections and secure communications and are actually more secure than a web browser and an https:// connection. Many now also let you use your fingerprint as a proxy for your login password (Bank of America, Fidelity, State Farm, etc, allow use of your fingerprint to login to use the app).

Cybertron03 wrote:

Aren't you concerned about you're data ? I have Antivirus protection on my android & personal computer. It doesn't seem to work on iPhone though, it's concerning.

There are NO viruses in the wild that can affect an iOS device. None. If your phone isn't jailbroken, you have absolutely nothing to be concerned about. If it is... well, you may as well have just gotten an Android phone, because jailbreaking completely negates the security of iOS.

As long as you have a passcode on your phone, the data is encrypted. No one, including Apple has access to it without the passcode.

iOS "sandboxes" apps. What that means is that the apps don't have limited to no access to the data from other apps and developers don't have access to certain APIs. Sometimes this frustrates former Android users because is means that certain things simply aren't possible on an iPhone. But, it means that your data is far more secure and that it's very difficult to write malware that can do much on an iPhone.

The best ways to keep your iPhone secure are to put a passcode on it, keep iOS up to date, put two-factor authentication on your Apple ID. But, most important, do NOT jailbreak your iPhone. That's kind of like rooting it. Doing so removes the protections Apple has put in place.

Cybertron03 wrote:

How can you be so sure that you're safe from cyber attacks ?. This may be off topic, but how do you have an actual picture for your avatar ? Thanks

Most of us have spent a lot of time working with iPhones, reading about them. As I noted above, the way the operating system is constructed, iPhones are simply not that vulnerable.

Your data could still be compromised if you use unsecured WiFi networks, respond to phishing emails, or allow someone you don't trust to have access to your phone.

Having a custom avatar is a one of the perks of having more points. I've forgotten at what level you have access to that feature. Maybe Level 4?

Cybertron03 wrote:

How can you be so sure that you're safe from cyber attacks ?. This may be off topic, but how do you have an actual picture for your avatar ? Thanks

See the above reply from IdrisSeabright -- she is spot on regarding the first question and only one off on the level requirement for a custom avatar; it is level 3 (500 points).

FoxFifth wrote:

Cybertron03 wrote:

How can you be so sure that you're safe from cyber attacks ?. This may be off topic, but how do you have an actual picture for your avatar ? Thanks

See the above reply from IdrisSeabright -- she is spot on regarding the first question and only one off on the level requirement for a custom avatar; it is level 3 (500 points).

Thanks, FoxFifth!

Cybertron03 wrote:

Aren't you concerned about you're data ? I have Antivirus protection on my android & personal computer. It doesn't seem to work on iPhone though, it's concerning.

Android and iOS are very different things. Android is the Windows XP of the mobile world. It's horribly insecure and can be difficult or impossible to keep up-to-date, depending on your phone hardware and provider. If you don't have anti-virus on an Android device, you're making a big mistake.

iOS is commonly considered to be the most secure mobile system. Due to the security restrictions in iOS, no app can access the system or other apps, which means that anti-virus software is actually impossible on iOS. Such software wouldn't be able to do anything useful... it could scan itself and that's it.

There is some malware for iOS, but most of it only affects jailbroken devices, which means that someone would need unsupervised physical access to your iPhone to install such malware on it. Note that if you jailbreak your phone yourself, you'll be exposing it to the threat of malware.

There is also malware that can be remotely installed, but such malware is extremely rare and extremely expensive. The kinds of vulnerabilities in iOS that can be exploited for this purpose are sold on the black market for around $1,000,000, because they are so rare and hard to find. So, if you purchase or discover such a vulnerability, you don't use it in widespread malware that would be found by Apple, which would lead to that vulnerability being fixed, thus destroying a million dollar black-market "resource." Such malware is used exclusively by governments, and other extremely wealthy and powerful organizations, to spy on select, targeted individuals.

If you believe that you are someone who might be targeted for such an attack, by an adversary willing to spend millions to spy on you specifically, then you're not safe, no matter what electronics you use or what anti-virus software you install on them.

Otherwise, just use and enjoy your iPhone worry-free.

Do keep in mind what IdrisSeabright said about data leaving your phone, though... things like using unsecured wifi or falling for a phishing scam do not involve a defect in your device, they are simply a risk of engaging in internet activities in general.

There's no need to any type of anti virus software on an iPhone.

Best protection is keeping the iOS operating system up to date.

Tap Settings > General > Software Update

Latest version is v10.2.1.

I've been an iPhone user for over 7 years. I've never even considered using any type of anti-virus product.

I've never had a problem and I'm not concerned about the potential for a problem. That is one of the advantages of using an iPhone.