Launched last week for iOS, the app System and Security Info informed users whether or not their iPhones have been hacked so they can take control and protect their privacy. However, Apple decided to pull the security app from the App Store over the weekend, banning it for providing "potentially inaccurate and misleading diagnostic functionality for iOS devices to the user."
System and Security Info worked by identifying if the iPhone was jailbroken without the owner knowing about it. Once a phone is jailbroken, software other than Apple's can be installed on the phone. Some of these types of software can be used to spy on the iPhone user without them having a clue. It also means that hackers can get access to the owner's personal information, which can be scary since many have their credit card info saved via Apple Pay or iTunes, as well as their email passwords, private messages, photos and other personal data saved on the device.
The security app also revealed any malware or anomalies on the iPhone. To do all of this, the app would run diagnostic tests.
Even though Apple initially approved the app, the company has since had a change of heart.
During its fourth review process for the App Store, System and Security Info was banned because Apple said that there is no public infrastructure that can support this type of diagnostic testing for iOS, therefore its analysis can be invalid.
Here. It basically says: we do not want our users to have the impression iOS could have security holes. go away. pic.twitter.com/7II1q96ZMt
— Stefan Esser (@i0n1c) May 14, 2016
The apps's developer Stefan Esser took to Twitter to voice his frustrations with the ban. It remains odd that Apple would initially approve the app and keep it in the App Store for days before pulling the plug. Esser also notes that the company allows other apps that are system-monitoring tools that use their own API on its App Store.
The only reason our app is pulled and not the others that show system info/jailbreak status is because we put a dent in "unbreakable iOS" — Stefan Esser (@i0n1c) May 16, 2016
The ban could have many thinking that Apple didn't want to taint its perfect iOS image that the software is free from any flaws. System and Security Info was talked about quite a bit in the news because of its ability to detect security breaches in iPhones running on iOS 9, so some may say it probably was just a matter of time before it was pulled from the App Store as it continued to gain popularity.
Photo: John Karakatsanis | Flickr
