James Delahunty
30 Mar 2017 6:24
Apple released a small update for iPhone after a fake ransomware attack was reported by users.
The hoax ransomware appeared to lock the iPhone browser until the user paid to have it unlocked. It accused the victim of illegal activity and demanded £100 in the form of an iTunes gift card, providing a designated mobile phone number to send the gift card code to.
However, the Browser was not locked and just wiping its cache would get rid of the annoyance completely. It was a more or less harmless piece of Javascript, but enough of an annoyance that Apple pushed a small update that would prevent its effects.
Ransomware and malware in general is a growing problem with mobile devices, though Apple's iOS devices tend to be viewed as more secure than their Android counterparts. The worst kind of attacks include encrypting sensitive information and demanding a ransom be paid for it to be decrypted.
Such attacks have not just hit home users, but government agencies, school and corporations too.