In the grand scheme things, how suspectible is the iPad to viruses?

[The Stig]

My dad has iPad Pro - despite my numerous attempts to quell his fear, especially with the recent ransomware attack that hit the UK and bits of the world big time, he's still paranoid over being hacked/hit by ransomware/getting his iPad hijacked, as he keeps talking to me about the stuff he sees, i.e. those scare-ads about "police are monitoring you". All this talk has gotten me a bit paranoid.

So, it's a vanilla iPad Pro with the latest iOS patches and stuff. It's in my knowledge that these iPads are basically rather bullet proof. For anything remotely sketchy that he browses, I really doubt anything can cause his iPad to get rekt.

He's savvy enough to not put in any username/passwords/details of anything or open any e-mails.

The iPad isn't running any custom or jailbroken stuff. Just to reassure myself, I'm posting here to check the current situation of things as I don't primarily use iOS. Anyone aware of anything that I should be somewhat aware about?

[Kalmado]

I'm not sure about Ipads because screw Apple, but for the last eight years I've solely relied upon malwarebytes and windows defender and have yet to have a problem.

[Arkanna]

That ransomware attack specifically targeted a vulnerability in SMB 1.0, so it was strictly a Windows thing. It was very serious ... so serious, MS issued patches for the bug, for OS's that are no longer supported.

But anyway, iPads are pretty bulletproof but nothing is completely invulnerable. I'm not an Apple guy at all, but my employer has over 200 of them out in the field and we've never had a problem with them relating to viruses, malware, or ransomware.

[Anoat]

Tell your dad he can get rid of those FBI warning things if he clears his history from Safari in Settings. Also, use better porn sites.

[The Stig]

@Arkanna: Thanks, that's good to hear, especially from a work point of view. Of course nothing is absolute safe, but in most cases it sounds like it'll be fine

@Anoat: haha i don't wanna get into that discussion/talk, it'd be awkward -- i'll tell him to wipe his history though

[Sho]

Viruses, malware and other shenanigans are typically targeted towards Windows platforms, mainly because it's what the majority of the world uses. There are viruses/malware for Apple and Linux platforms, but waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay less prominent. You'll probably have to be doing some pretty illegal/off-the-wall stuff yourself to get caught up with viruses on those platforms.

[Darus Grey]

iOS is basically pretty bulletproof with the way its organized and apps are sandboxed. Occasionally there is a virus that can break this, but almost always its an SMS exploit that requires you clicking things in a random text. The OS is just locked down by default and basically doesn't let the user do anything, so even if an attack gets through there's typically a limited amount the hacker could even do.

Android though, well, Malware just comes pre-installed from the factory for your convenience, like windows I assume every Android device is already silently compromised(I wish I was being facetious here).

[DrClout]

iOS is basically pretty bulletproof with the way its organized and apps are sandboxed. Occasionally there is a virus that can break this, but almost always its an SMS exploit that requires you clicking things in a random text. The OS is just locked down by default and basically doesn't let the user do anything, so even if an attack gets through there's typically a limited amount the hacker could even do.

Android though, well, Malware just comes pre-installed from the factory for your convenience, like windows I assume every Android device is already silently compromised(I wish I was being facetious here).

Fuck you Samsung!!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Deejay]

That ransomware attack specifically targeted a vulnerability in SMB 1.0, so it was strictly a Windows thing. It was very serious ... so serious, MS issued patches for the bug, for OS's that are no longer supported.

But anyway, iPads are pretty bulletproof but nothing is completely invulnerable. I'm not an Apple guy at all, but my employer has over 200 of them out in the field and we've never had a problem with them relating to viruses, malware, or ransomware.

I'm in a similar situation with my employer, and we've had 0 issues with iPads.

[The Stig]

Nice nice, good to hear about those iPads. Thanks for the reassurance -- I was confident of this fact but after countless times he rings/shows me about X or Y warning/threat it's gotten to me where I was starting to doubt.

[Zetanio]

Close to zero threat. Been using my iPad forever, never had anything remotely resembling a security threat.

[Yabby]

iOS is basically pretty bulletproof with the way its organized and apps are sandboxed. Occasionally there is a virus that can break this, but almost always its an SMS exploit that requires you clicking things in a random text. The OS is just locked down by default and basically doesn't let the user do anything, so even if an attack gets through there's typically a limited amount the hacker could even do..

Pretty much this, there are things that can get at an Ipad or IOS in general, but all the ways i know involve either physical access to the Ipad or at least being on the same network as the Ipad (In this case, the users still needs to allow things as you will be attempting to redirect them to sites to gather creds).

As long as he is using two -factor for his important stuff, and he isn't being retarded, he will be fine.