Dodgy developers can have their data-stealing iOS applications boosted to the top ranks of Apple's App Store for as little as US$4000 thanks to services on offer by Chinese hackers. The price will get an application capable of evading Apple's security checks onto the top five paid application list through boosting services.
A payment of $US7200 will get an app onto the sought-after top 25 free apps lists, a price increase of $3800 since 2013. By contrast deviant developers can score 10,000 downloads for their malicious Android app a paltry US$16. The findings are part of analysis of the Chinese criminal underground by Trend Micro forward threat researcher Lion Gu.
Read moreApple Inc said it is cleaning up its iOS App Store to remove malicious iPhone and iPad programs identified in the first large-scale attack on the popular mobile software outlet.
The company disclosed the effort after several cyber security firms reported finding a malicious program dubbed XcodeGhost that was embedded in hundreds of legitimate apps. It is the first reported case of large numbers of malicious software programs making their way past Apple's stringent app review process. Prior to this attack, a total of just five malicious apps had ever been found in the App Store, according to cyber security firm Palo Alto Networks Inc.
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