Potentially Helpful Security and Anti-Hacker App Booted from Apple’s App Store

After the iCloud hack made customers wary of hosting their personal files in the cloud, Apple has made an effort to up their security measures and place privacy at the top of their list. But recently, the company sent a mixed message by removing an app from the App Store that supposedly would help customers identify potential hackers.

The app was created by SektionEins, a German company that focuses on security consultancy and audit services for web-based applications. Dubbed ‘System and Security Info’, the app was able to identify all of the processes running on an iPhone by running diagnostics tests to determine core processes, malware infections, and any hacks to jailbreak a device.

Even though the app passed the certification processes put in place by Apple, it was removed last week after Apple took another look at the app. According to BGR, Apple cited that the company’s app “provides potentially inaccurate and misleading diagnostic functionality.” A spokesperson from Apple also noted that the app violated the company’s user privacy policy.

SektionEins was encouraged to review the app and update accordingly for consideration once again.

In lieu of the app’s ban from the App Store, developer Stefan Esser unveiled the following to Forbes: “It could be that some of the things we use they cannot fix in [iOS] 9.3.2 because they are too late in the release cycle. So leaving our app in the store would make it very visible that they might not intend to fix the problems before iOS 10 which comes out in months.”

Esser vented his frustrations via Twitter, noting that their app is only one out of “hundreds” of system monitoring tools. He believes it might very well have to do with the fact that Apple might not be comfortable with an outside app pointing out some security weak points. However, the app’s benefits of keeping mobile devices and personal information safe should certainly outweigh Apple’s insecurities about any iOS flaws.

Despite the app’s removal, Esser says that he will not distribute a jailbroken app out of frustration. Instead, he is seeking a more detailed response from Apple, given that the app passed the first three certifications.

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