City
Epaper

iPhone owners 167 times more at risk of being hacked: Study

By IANS | Updated: December 27, 2019 11:10 IST

As smartphone hacking via third-party bugs increases (like WhatsApp-Pegasus case), a new study in Britain has discovered that iPhone owners are a whopping 167 times more at risk of being hacked than other mobile brands.

Open in App

The tech experts at UK-based phone case company Case24.com gathered the data by analysing monthly Google search volumes to see how many British people are looking to find information on how to hack different apps or smartphone brands.

The total search volume for iPhones was 10,040 in Britain significantly higher than Samsung that came in second place with 700 searches.

"LG, Nokia and Sony were the phones that hackers were least interested in, generating under 100 searches a month for each individual brand," reports goodtoknow.co.uk.

Sony was at the bottom with just 50 searches.

In another finding, the tech experts came to know that 12,310 British people are interested in finding out how to hack someone's Instagram account.

Snapchat was second and WhatsApp third.

Apps that posed a lower risk of being hacked were Facebook (1,120), Amazon (1,070) and Netflix (750).

"Instagram account is 16 times more likely to be hacked than your Netflix account," the study said.

The study, however, did not highlight specific risk factors and vulnerabilities.

Apple in August fixed an "unpatched" bug in the latest iOS update that had left its most up-to-date iPhones vulnerable to hacking risk.

The update introduced a fix for vulnerability in which, according to Apple, "a malicious application may be able to execute arbitrary code with system privileges".

A security researcher that goes by the name of "Pwn20wnd" published a jailbreak for the earlier iOS 12.4 update.

Jailbreaking an iPhone lets people customise their iOS devices and run unsupported apps. Apple never allows unsupported apps on its iOS platform, which makes its devices extra secure.

( With inputs from IANS )

Open in App

Related Stories

International"Had an excellent meeting": PM Modi on meeting Canadian PM on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Kananaskis

InternationalPM Modi, S.Korea President Lee affirm commitment to deepening strategic partnership

InternationalPM Modi holds talks with UK PM Keir Starmer on sidelines of G7 Summit in Canada

InternationalIsrael-Iran war: Trump demands "unconditional surrender" from Iran

InternationalPM Modi, world leaders join for group photo at G7 Summit in Canada's Kananaskis

टेकमेनिया Realted Stories

TechnologyDGCA gives clean chit to Air India’s Boeing 787 fleet amid thorough inspection

TechnologyNo major safety concerns with Air India’s Boeing 787 fleet: DGCA

TechnologyAndhra Pradesh plans to establish three circular economy parks

TechnologyIPO-bound Arisinfra's net loss widens to Rs 17.3 crore, revenue drops nearly 7 pc in FY24

TechnologyUnion Minister Jitendra Singh reviews progress of science and technology institutes in Northeast