Some of the most popular iOS apps are being pirated using Apple’s very own developer program.
According to a report by Reuters, software pirates are obtaining official Apple enterprise developer certificates in order to distribute hacked versions of iOS apps such as Pokemon Go, Angry Birds, Minecraft, and Spotify.
Pirated app distributors such as TutuApp, AppValley, TweakBox, and Panda Helper offer free, hacked versions of normally paid software such as Minecraft and Angry Birds. These services also ad-free versions of Spotify’s ad-supported streaming service and a version of Pokemon Go which enables cheating on the online multiplayer platform.
The pirates generate revenue by offering a cheap yearly “VIP” subscription, which claims to offer more stable versions of all its pirated iPhone apps.
SEE ALSO: Congress is 'deeply troubled' by Apple's FaceTime bug, and it wants answersThe distributors circumvent Apple’s stringent App Store review process by using developer certificates issued in the name of legitimate tech businesses. Reuters discovered that many of these pirated app distributors impersonated a subsidiary of China Mobile Ltd, a Chinese state-owned telecom company.
Apple’s enterprise developer program is meant to be used as a way for companies to distribute internal apps to its employees. Distribution of these apps outside the company is a breach of Apple’s terms.
Regardless, many applications are being distributed this very way.
A recent reportby Techcrunch released just this week uncovered dozens of pornography and gambling apps -- the type of software which would never make it into the official App Store -- being distributed through Apple’s enterprise developer program.
In a seriesof investigationslast month, Techcrunch also discovered that Facebook and Google were using this enterprise developer workaround in order to distribute VPN “research” apps to its users in order to collect data.
Apple revokedthe enterprise certificates of both tech giantswhen the company became aware of the breach of its terms. The revocation effectively breaks all the apps distributed under each developer certificate. However, in the case of the pirated app distributors, Reuters reports that the apps just reappear under a new enterprise developer certificate after Apple takes action.
Earlier this month, Spotify announced it would take actionagainst users that blocked its in-app advertisements by terminating or suspending their accounts. Pokemon Go developers Niantic have instituteda three-strike discipline policy to address users caught cheating in the game.
Apple is also addressing the abuse of its Developer Program by requiringtwo-factor authentication be turned on by the end of the month for all accounts using the service.
Its unclear exactly how much revenue these pirated software services have generated or exactly how much this has affected the developers behind the legitimate versions of the hacked apps.
Mashable has reached out to Apple for comment and will update when we hear back.
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