Towards the end of April, I posted about the work Google have been doing to help make the Internet a safer place for users.
Well, today it’s Apple’s time in the limelight.
In a post on the Apple website on Tuesday (16/05/23), Apple announced a number of things they have done over the last 12 months to make using an Apple product one of the safest things you can do online.
Some of the headline statistics include:
- Stopping more than (USD)$2B in fraudulent transactions.
- Banning 428,000 fraudulent developer accounts
- Rejecting 105,000 potentially fraudulent developer enrollment applications
- Blocked 57,000 untrustworthy apps
- Blocked 3.9 Million attempts to install malicious apps via the Developer Enterprise Program
- Disabled 282 Million fraudulent customer accounts
- Blocked 198 Million fraudulent accounts from being registered
App Review
At the heart of Apples’ security checks on the App store is a system called App Review.
During an Apps development stage, Xcode systematically inspects apps to certify they are using authorised technologies and to make sure the app meets minimum requirements for the App Store.
After a developer uploads their app to App Store Connect, additional checks are run to verify it does not reference private APIs and is free of known malware.
Once in review, each submission is carefully looked at by a member of the App Review team to ensure it meets Apple’s standards of quality and safety.
In more than one case in 2022, App Review caught apps using malicious code with the potential to steal users’ credentials from third-party services. In other instances, the App Review team identified several apps that disguised themselves as innocuous financial management platforms but had the capability to morph into another app.
Nearly 24,000 apps were blocked or removed from the App Store for bait-and-switch violations such as these in 2022.
Ratings & Reviews
Customers wishing to try out a new App will rely heavily on reviews and customer ratings. As such, these aspects of the App store regularly come under attack from fraudsters with fake reviews to make it look like an App is better and thus more appealing than it actually is.
In 2022, with over 1 billion ratings and reviews processed, Apple blocked and removed more than 147 million ratings and reviews for failing to meet moderation standards.
Financial fraud
In 2022, Apple blocked nearly 3.9 million stolen credit cards from being used to make fraudulent purchases, and banned 714,000 accounts from transacting again.
In total, Apple blocked $2.09 billion in fraudulent transactions on the App Store in 2022.
Regardless of whether you use an Android or an Apple device, its good to know that the manufacturers behind these platforms are doing some great work in trying to keep their customers as safe as they can be,
However, as good as these companies are at doing this work, there is always a need to the users to be ever vigilant – Criminals will try almost anything to get access to our systems, data, and finances.