Virus targeting protesters in Hong Kong spread on iPhone, iPad

Malicious software is written in Chinese with complexity and high quality, can spread across borders, in order to steal personal information or even the government.

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Reuters said, the network security researchers have discovered a virus that spies on the operating system of the iPhone, iPad. This malware called Xsser, capable of stealing content messages, photos, call history, passwords and other information on the iOS platform. Lacoon Mobile Security believes that the objective of this virus targeting those pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

Malware is detected with high quality and high complexity. Artwork.

Last September, security researchers have discovered similar malware but for the Android operating system and is aimed at the protesters. The virus spreads through the Google platform WhatsApps, send malicious links to users to download. With iOS, unexplained iPhone, iPad infected when Xsser not "anonymous" under a different software.

CEO Lacoon Mobile Security, Michael Shaulov, said, Xsser is complex malware ever found to this point attack on the database users of iPhone, iPad. "This is the most exciting discovery we see," he said. This sign says Xsser virus begin to spread from computer to mobile iOS devices.

The code used to write the spy program was written in Chinese. The complexity and quality of the offensives on protesters in Hong Kong showed that this virus comes from a sophisticated group in China, Shaulov said. "This is the first time in history a trojan appeared on the iOS platform is operated by Chinese hackers," he said.

Trojan is the world security terminology to refer to malicious software from entering the equipment under the guise of a harmless software. The team has yet to identify any specific victim of trojan above. "This malware can easily spread across borders and can be operated by an organization using Chinese to track individuals, foreign companies even the entire government," the group Lacoon security researchers said.