Can an ipad get a virus?

[jimmy23]

Subject^^^

 Sent from my iPad 32gb (3rd generation) using iPF  Add me on dragonvale please! GC - james_oc_24 ⚡

 

[seneca18]

No. If you are jailbroken there is a small (very small) risk you can download something fishy but from my experience you would almost have to try to download a virus.

 

[Andyvalver]

No not yet. But as on the news recently iMacs have been found with malware on them so apple are not as invincible as they would like to think.

Sent from my iPad 3

 

[KmanOz]

No not yet. But as on the news recently iMacs have been found with malware on them so apple are not as invincible as they would like to think.

Sent from my iPad 3

In all fairness, Java was the real culprit.

 

[col.bris]

I agree with kmanoz Java is the problem with Mac OS and frankly after researching some 40 clients it is not as bad as it seems but that is not the reason of discussion

However with respect to a NON jail broken iOS products which includes ipads the answer is a big NO.

 

[KmanOz]

I agree with kmanoz Java is the problem with Mac OS and frankly after researching some 40 clients it is not as bad as it seems but that is not the reason of discussion

However with respect to a NON jail broken iOS products which includes ipads the answer is a big NO.

And that's why Iv stopped Jailbreaking my devices as of 2 years ago. Sure jailbreaking gives you increased functionality and tweakability, but in return you sacrifice security, performance and reliability in some way.

 

[Ziggie]

This really seems like a silly thread. Of course an ipad can get a virus.

The real question is what are the odds of an ipad getting a virus? At this time, very low.

 

[hpulmer]

I agree with kmanoz Java is the problem with Mac OS and frankly after researching some 40 clients it is not as bad as it seems but that is not the reason of discussion

However with respect to a NON jail broken iOS products which includes ipads the answer is a big NO.

BS!
Agree with Ziggie - of course also an out-of-the-box iPad can get a Virus!
The question is what the virus is supposed to do - Data theft, political statements, cyberterrorism?
It is simply no use yet to do so.
Macs have been infected and not only through Java - the fact is that any widespad computer system will be hacked/infected one day, when (I do NOT say "if"!) it will be worth doing it.
Sandboxing is an advantage, but not a guarantee.

Just today I heard "there are two types of companies: those that had their network hacked, and those whose network will be hacked. If you think yours had not been hacked the probability is very high you just didn't notice it!".

If the revenue is big enough it will happen, and you most probably will not be able to avoid it.

☠ stay safe ☠ stay legal ☠

 

[crumbcookie]

100% certified YES they can get a virus

So far at my work we have help "clean up" 100's (possibly thousands) of iPads with viruses. The typical one that we get is the one we cut from the network since they had phising attack malware in them. Since their MAC address is found to be the cause of the phising attack we immediately cut them out. Then the owners compain because they can not get on the network. We verify in on an isolated network that they are the one causing it. The solution have been easy so far. Usually backing up the data and wiping (ie RESETing EVERYTHING) it to the new status. Apps downloaded back and data put back. We verify that the iPad is healthy again (no more phising attacks) and we return them and let them roam the network again. We usually have the owners do the procedure themselves (except for the ones we rent/loan).

We get a large amount of transient traffic since we have a public network that people can use for free. So far we have done this cleaning for free but starting next year we will be charging for the service since it is not rare occasion. Amazingly we rarely get this from actual laptops (either PC, Mac or Linux).

We only care about the viruses that affect the network so I can not say other viruses exist on laptops or other devices but we have encounter plenty on the iPad (this year with the exception of 1 Windows XP laptop all our LOCAL problems have come from iPads). Currently the iPad is our worst nightmare. And the main reason is the hostility because of this false believe that they can not get viruses.

 

[thewitt]

So far at my work we have help "clean up" 100's (possibly thousands) of iPads with viruses. The typical one that we get is the one we cut from the network since they had phising attack malware in them. Since their MAC address is found to be the cause of the phising attack we immediately cut them out. Then the owners compain because they can not get on the network. We verify in on an isolated network that they are the one causing it. The solution have been easy so far. Usually backing up the data and wiping (ie RESETing EVERYTHING) it to the new status. Apps downloaded back and data put back. We verify that the iPad is healthy again (no more phising attacks) and we return them and let them roam the network again. We usually have the owners do the procedure themselves (except for the ones we rent/loan).

We get a large amount of transient traffic since we have a public network that people can use for free. So far we have done this cleaning for free but starting next year we will be charging for the service since it is not rare occasion. Amazingly we rarely get this from actual laptops (either PC, Mac or Linux).

We only care about the viruses that affect the network so I can not say other viruses exist on laptops or other devices but we have encounter plenty on the iPad (this year with the exception of 1 Windows XP laptop all our LOCAL problems have come from iPads). Currently the iPad is our worst nightmare. And the main reason is the hostility because of this false believe that they can not get viruses.

I call BS

We support over 20,000 enterprise iOS devices and have never seen a virus or Trojan of any kind.

 

[KevinJS]

Not ready to say never, but so far we have not had a single case of a stock machine being reported with a virus, and that's with nearly a quarter million members.

I'd say we have a reasonably representative sample of the iPad population, including some very big brains in the jailbreaking department, so I would have thought we would have something, if there is anything to hear.

Additionally, the news team have not reported any rumblings of virus attacks on iDevices.

It's almost certain that virus writers are going to find one or more exploits, given time, especially as different generations of iDevices wind up with different versions of iOS, but so far we seem to be safe.

I wouldn't go so far as to call BS, but I'd like to see some additional info before I change my views and behavior.

Sent from my iPhone using iPF

 

[iJamesH]

Give it time. Someone will come up with a way to hack into these types of devices using various methods especially as Apple users grow over time in which case it would be ideal for app designers to start coming up with profound antivirus and firewall apps.

 

[Sleaka J]

So far at my work we have help "clean up" 100's (possibly thousands) of iPads with viruses. The typical one that we get is the one we cut from the network since they had phising attack malware in them. Since their MAC address is found to be the cause of the phising attack we immediately cut them out. Then the owners compain because they can not get on the network. We verify in on an isolated network that they are the one causing it. The solution have been easy so far. Usually backing up the data and wiping (ie RESETing EVERYTHING) it to the new status. Apps downloaded back and data put back. We verify that the iPad is healthy again (no more phising attacks) and we return them and let them roam the network again. We usually have the owners do the procedure themselves (except for the ones we rent/loan). We get a large amount of transient traffic since we have a public network that people can use for free. So far we have done this cleaning for free but starting next year we will be charging for the service since it is not rare occasion. Amazingly we rarely get this from actual laptops (either PC, Mac or Linux). We only care about the viruses that affect the network so I can not say other viruses exist on laptops or other devices but we have encounter plenty on the iPad (this year with the exception of 1 Windows XP laptop all our LOCAL problems have come from iPads). Currently the iPad is our worst nightmare. And the main reason is the hostility because of this false believe that they can not get viruses.

Really? You're going to fabricate an entire story and then then blame "phising attacks"? It's clear from your post you haven't got a clue.

 

[col.bris]

So far at my work we have help "clean up" 100's (possibly thousands) of iPads with viruses. The typical one that we get is the one we cut from the network since they had phising attack malware in them. Since their MAC address is found to be the cause of the phising attack we immediately cut them out. Then the owners compain because they can not get on the network. We verify in on an isolated network that they are the one causing it. The solution have been easy so far. Usually backing up the data and wiping (ie RESETing EVERYTHING) it to the new status. Apps downloaded back and data put back. We verify that the iPad is healthy again (no more phising attacks) and we return them and let them roam the network again. We usually have the owners do the procedure themselves (except for the ones we rent/loan).

We get a large amount of transient traffic since we have a public network that people can use for free. So far we have done this cleaning for free but starting next year we will be charging for the service since it is not rare occasion. Amazingly we rarely get this from actual laptops (either PC, Mac or Linux).

We only care about the viruses that affect the network so I can not say other viruses exist on laptops or other devices but we have encounter plenty on the iPad (this year with the exception of 1 Windows XP laptop all our LOCAL problems have come from iPads). Currently the iPad is our worst nightmare. And the main reason is the hostility because of this false believe that they can not get viruses.

With respect I have a real hard time believing your statement. Thewitt frankly is not only a long standing member of our forums but also one of our most knowledgeable users Frankly you would need to provide hard evidence to prove you are correct. In my business I happened to very close to several corporations whom have installed iPad's. I can assure you that non of these sites have experianced issues and in addition all our 100 store have free wifi. Our IT department has again not detected any issues with iPads however windows laptops have had issues. iPads are moving rapidly in to all types of corporations and government sites. If issues like what you have stated existed the web would be full of stories and discussions.

 

[Pinkpoison]

never say never but i believe its highly unlikely.