Enhancing security in Apple devices

Working in collaboration with researchers from the SMU School of Information Systems, the A*STAR team uncovered security flaws that would enable hackers to access a user's passcode, interfere with incoming calls and post unauthorised content on Twitter. The researchers developed multiple proof-of-concept studies – designed to test whether iOS would work as intended – to investigate three theoretical attack scenarios for the iPhone 4 and newer models, the fifth-generation iPod touch onwards, and the iPad 2 and later versions. In each case, the researchers proposed solutions that could reinforce security through additional entitlement checks, as well as ways to improve Apple's vetting process for third-party applications.