One of the main jailbreaking suppliers is TaiG and it is usually not far behind Apple’s iOS release with the latest jailbreak.

Although jailbreaking may compromise iOS security, a huge number of users do it because it allows them to install a wider variety of apps – including those that are not vetted by Apple. It is also a way to break Apple’s monopoly and is widely practised in many Asian and EMEA regions.

Symantec has discovered spammers spoofing TaiG’s official site and offering a fake iOS jailbreak. The URL is TaiG9 – very similar to the real thing.

iOS users are supposedly given a sneak peek at what this “beta” tool does. Users are guided through several steps to complete the jailbreak process, but these steps actually do nothing.

Once the final jailbreak button is clicked a fake iOS configuration profile is served, signed correctly with a COMODO CA, and therefore trusted on the device. It contains a Web clip, which places a shortcut to a website on the user’s home screen.

The last step is to click on the shortcut which takes you to a fake Cydia web page (the program TaiG uses) and you are then are plagued for “freemium” donations. Symantec says in excess of 100,000 users have been lured to this page.

Comment

Users jailbreak for many reasons. It is similar to rooting an Android handset. Apple responds by breaking the jailbroken phones every time there is an iOS update (a new OS is installed) and then companies like Pangu, TaiG, Cydia, Todesco, and more work at speed to get the latest version out.

The problem is that there are tens of thousands of fake jailbreak sites that use the break to gain access to the iPhone or iPad and quite a black market apps industry has grown up around it.