FireEye (FEYE) Bug Expose A Hit To Apple (AAPL)’s Apple Pay: Josh Brown

The revelation made by FireEye Inc (NASDAQ:FEYE) about a security bug affecting devices made by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a hit to the nascent Apple Pay electronic payment system, Josh Brown said in a commentary to a report on CNBC.

FireEye Inc (NASDAQ:FEYE) on Monday blogged about a security flaw that attackers may take advantage of to gain control and steal data from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).

“I think the timing here probably is not thrilling for Tim Cook and Apple given the fact that they are now in the process of trying to persuade the public that we need to use our phones as credit cards. And I’m not saying that [in] this particular instance, apps had access to payment information but look, just since the launch of Apple Pay, Whole Foods is saying 1% of all their sales in store happen with an Apple Pay,” Brown said.

He added that there is clearly some uptake on this device that he is of the opinion that the timing of the FireEye Inc (NASDAQ:FEYE) disclosure is probably not thrilling for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), one of the world’s most profitable companies of 2014, as they do not need a security flaw widely discussed in the media while they promote Apple pay.

In the report, it was noted by Brian Sullivan that FireEye Inc (NASDAQ:FEYE) said it notified Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) of the vulnerability on July 26.

The vulnerability being called by Fireeye as a Masque Attack can be executed by hackers if a user of Apple’s iOS mobile operating system updates applications not made by Apple through unofficial app stores.

Websites and apps used by attackers essentially masquerade as official apps and then proceed to either steal information by accessing the directories used by official apps or trick the user to giving up their account details by employing tricks such as pretending to be, for example, the real login screen to a banking or email application.

The CNBC report cautions people from installing applications and updates from unofficial sources.

David E. Shaw’s D.E. Shaw & Co., L.P. reported owning about 11.89 million Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares by June 30. Also by the end of the second quarter of the year, Adam Usdan’s Trellus Management Company reported owning 442,488 shares of FireEye Inc (NASDAQ:FEYE).