Perhaps you’ve heard about a little event going on this week called the Worldwide Developers Conference? Attackers are preying on the frenzy of hype around the Apple WWDC to launch new phishing scams “announcing” the iPhone 5G.
Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant with security vendor Sophos, alerts users in a blog post to watch out for iPhone 5-related phishing scams. Letting your curiosity get the best of you could lead to infecting your Windows PC with a nasty Trojan.
The attackers even threw a “G” and an “S” at the end of the name just to make it even more impressive. Who wants an iPhone 5, when you can get this awesome new iPhone 5G S–“the best iPhone yet”? If you click on the links in the message, though, you will launch malware detected as Troj/Zapchast-B by Sophos.
There are a lot of rumors and speculation as we kick off WWDC today. They keynote address by Steve Jobs will most likely be delivered in his signature black turtleneck, and I am sure it will be the magic show to end all magic shows. We can expect details to be revealed about iCloud, and the latest version of Mac OS X, and even iOS 5–but don’t expect any shocking unveiling of an iPhone 5.
Cluley advises users to exercise some caution and common sense. He says to make sure you are running up to date antimalware protection on your PC, but also to have a little healthy skepticism about Apple-related news–particularly this week. Cluley says “Hackers are used to tempting victims with shiny gifts,” and warns users that any real information about new Apple products would be featured on Apple’s Website rather than broadcast via e-mail.
While anything is possible, and I can’t completely rule out Apple shocking the world with an iPhone 5 announcement today, it is highly, highly unlikely. As secretive as Apple is, its track record of containing leaks hasn’t been what it once was. By monitoring the supply chain, vendor Websites, third-party product development (like cases and screen protectors), etc., there would most likely be some clues.
Whatever Apple announces, though, it won’t be in an e-mail–especially not an e-mail sent out hours before the big Steve Jobs stage show.