Phishing and Malware Emails Posing as Apple and the iPhone 5 Launch


We've received a number of warnings from readers over the last couple of weeks about fraudulent emails that look a lot like official Apple emails. These emails are structured just like Apple's promotional emails, but are actually attempts to lure unsuspecting customers into entering their Apple IDs and other personal information. Such so called "phishing" attempts are common and readers should be wary about following links from any emails.

What caught our eye is that the latest round of these fraudulent emails are actually leveraging the hype around the next generation iPhone. The latest email (pictured above) passes itself off as an Apple launch email for the iPhone 5. (Full size). It cobbles together various photos from the internet and entices users to click on "Learn More". The learn more link, however, links to a Windows executable which we presume to be malware (virus, trojan, keylogger, etc...), so readers are warned to avoid clicking on any links from these emails.

Reports of compromised App Store and Apple ID accounts have generated a lot of press in the past due to the scale of the iTunes Stores. It was believed that account details were stolen using these sort of techniques rather than any sort of vulnerability in iTunes itself.

Another example of a fraudulent email:



Source: http://www.macrumors.com/2011/05/22/phishing-and-malware-emails-posing-as-apple-and-the-iphone-5-launch/

apple store mac protection news on apple apple business news

Apple: Amazon's Appstore isn't an 'app store'

Bloomberg reports that Apple has filed new papers with a federal court in Oakland, California stating that Amazon's Appstore for Android can't possibly be an "app store." According to the filing, "Apple denies that, based on their common meaning, the words 'app store' together denote a store for apps. The term isn't commonly used by businesses to describe download services and, because the mark 'app store' isn't generic, Amazon's Appstore for Android service isn't an 'app store'."

Since earlier this year, both Amazon and Microsoft have been hoping to overturn Apple's "app store" trademark. Both companies contend the term is too generic. Recently, the fight over the trademark has extended to Europe as well. There are many arguments for and against the term's generic nature, but perhaps the most positive evidence in Apple's holding of the term is John Paczkowski's Google trend line showing that the "app store" phrase didn't enter the vernacular until 2008 -- which was about the time that Apple began popularizing it.

Apple: Amazon's Appstore isn't an 'app store' originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 20 May 2011 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.tuaw.com/2011/05/20/apple-amazons-appstore-isnt-an-app-store/

mac rumor apple news conference mac mini news apple store