Windows malware slips into Apple's iOS App Store

A Windows malware worm has been found embedded in an application being distributed in Apple's App Store for iOS. The worm is a relatively low-threat malware package that will not affect the iOS or the MacOS platform but may be harmful to those who manage the app in their iTunes accounts on Windows machines.

In a recent post to an Apple discussion forum, user "deesto" mentioned he had downloaded the free "Instaquotes Quotes Cards for Instagram" app from the iTunes store and noticed that his ClamXav antivirus program had flagged the downloaded file as containing the "Worm.VB-900" malware.

Symantec's free iAntivirus scanner locates two Windows executables that are flagged as containing malware.

(Credit: Screenshot by Topher Kessler/CNET)

Though the warning was first suspected to be a false positive, further investigation revealed that the malware is present in the application package. App Store programs are distributed in a .ipa file format, which is a wrapper that contains the application package itself. Similar to OS X applications, the iOS app contains its executable files and other resources the program needs to run in iOS.

To test the claims in the discussion forum, I downloaded the Instaquotes packag... [Read more]