Apple and sideloading: cyber crime’s best friend

Apple has always had a very firm position regarding the practice of sideloading, or the possibility of downloading and installing applications on iPhone and iPad even from third-party stores or from the web. Now Craigh Federighi, the company’s vice president, has spent a few words on the subject by calling sideloading the best friend of cyber criminals.

Apple: Sideloading is cyber crime’s best friend

The origin of the problem described by the Cupertino giant derives from the fact that the company would not have control over third-party apps and, for this reason, would consequently be unable to guarantee the safety of users, totally uncovered in the event of a virus attack and malware. Indeed, the lack of sideloading seems to be one of the aspects that has contributed to making the Apple ecosystem particularly safe.

It is no coincidence that during the Web Summit 2021, the Senior Vice President of the company Craig Federighi once again spent a few words on the subject, specifying that “Sideloading is the best friend of cybercriminals and inserting it on iPhones would trigger the malware industry” .

The point of the question put on the table by Federighi is configured as a sort of response to the Digital Markets Act of the European Union, heavily criticized by Apple. The reason is very simple: if it passed and became law in the EU, it would oblige the company to allow its users to install applications downloaded from outside its App Store.

According to Federighi, sideloading could lead criminals to: “try to avoid the privacy protections of the App Store, making their apps available only via sideloading. Sideloading destroys device security and puts people’s data at risk “. Although what the vice president said, it’s not hard to think that Apple is trying to preserve its interests in the first place.