“To be clear, this wasn’t an action directed specifically at Intego, we were one of several companies affected by Apple’s decision,†writes Intego’s Jeff Erwin. Erwin adds that users will continue to get virus definition updates, but there will be no more updates to the app.
According to a report published by 9to5Mac, Apple is swinging the ban hammer around for apps that fall under the “antivirus†or the “antimalware†category. At this point, though, there has been no statement made from Apple regarding this move. The report states that Apple is removing many of the apps, too.
Apple’s decision to do away with such apps shouldn’t surprise anyone. App Store-submitted software is given very limited access to the iOS filesystem, meaning an anti-malware application would have a very small and relatively unimportant area to scan for viruses.
In fact it’s this so-called “walled garden†approach—which many have criticized Apple for—that makes iOS relatively free of malware in the first place. Cisco issued a security report in 2014 claiming that 99% of mobile malware was aimed at the far-more-open Android.
Perhaps it’s a longtime coming, considering the sandbox nature of iOS apps for Apple’s mobile products, but the move is certainly abrupt if it is the case.
