Dubbed the largest theft of its kind, security research firm Palo Alto Networks has outlined a new type of iOS malware that it's calling KeyRaider, which the company claims has facilitated hackers in claiming over 250,000 devices and their respective Apple accounts already.

The exploit, which is exclusively aimed at jailbroken devices, worms its way onto your device through Cydia, the popular third party app store for jailbroken devices. Once its found it way on your device, it can not only uncover your password but also intercept data. Palo Alto Networks explained the operation of the exploit as follows:

KeyRaider steals Apple push notification service certificates and private keys, steals and shares App Store purchasing information, and disables local and remote unlocking functionalities on iPhones and iPads.

Since it hampers your ability to unlock the device, it serves as the perfect means of extorting users for a ransom to continue operation of their device. It doesn't stop there: it can also download and buy apps without your permission if you refuse to pay the ransom, the hacker could simply charge hefty amounts of app charges to your credit card out of spite, adding to the already massive headache anyone affected will probably have by now.

The only silver lining in this case is that the exploit can only affect jailbroken devices, serving as another stark reminder of the perils of fooling around with the root access to your device.

Via: Gizmodo |Image credit: Absolute Blogs