iTunes and QuickTime being used by Hackers for security breach

iTunes and QuickTime being used by Hackers for security breach

It has been well documented by virus fighters that opening mails and attachment from unrecognized spenders could put your computer at risk. Now a researcher has warned that opening media files from untrustworthy sources can be dangerous to the security of your computer. It might become prone to hacking.

The programs at the receiving end are Apple's hugely popular softwares, iTunes and Quicktime. A security researcher, Tom Ferris who works independently has detailed its security flaws that could breach the security of systems that run on Windows as well as Mac OS X.

The breach works like this. A person with malicious intent could hijack a susceptible computer by deceiving the user into opening a media file '.moy' with malicious content. “The vulnerability allows an attacker to cause the program to crash and could allow the execution of arbitrary code," Ferris, who's based in california said. "The flaw exists in all current and earlier versions of iTunes and QuickTime."

While Secunia, an agency which monitors security, called the issue “moderately critical, a research outfit French Security Incident Response Team has called it “Critical”. Meanwhile Apple has not issued any comments on the reports.

Ferris maintains that he made it a point to report the problem to Apple. He even posted a small snippet of info about the flaw on his website, following it up on Tuesday with a full security advisory giving examples of media files that were malformed and caused a crash in both iTunes and QuickTime.

Such bugs tagged in media files is not a new phenomenal. However, hackers and malicious code writers have recently begun shifting attacks from Windows like operating systems to applications like media players. Flaws have also been found on the RealPlayer from RealNetwork. By eEye Digital Security.
The findings are significant since there are literally millions of people using many versions of iTunes and Quick Time software, due to the proliferation of the iPod range of devices from Apple.
The cure, like in AIDS, is prevention. Ferris asks users of iTunes and Quick Time to never open media files from sources one doesnot recognize and trust.