When it comes to technical innovation, then there are very few companies which can hold a candle to Apple and over the years, those innovative products have made the company immensely rich. Like any other company, Apple is also fiercely protective of the products it has made and particularly so when the product in question is something as lucrative as the iOS. It has now emerged that Apple has filed a case against the company Corellium, which has allegedly sold virtual versions of its iOS illegally to anyone who might be interested in it. Corellium is a virtualization company and it is engaged in providing its customers with a platform that replicated the famed Apple iOS operating system. The company has done a decent replication job, which includes the famous user interface and also the underlying code that is used to power the operating system.
Corellium claims that it is primarily offered to security experts for their research purposes; however, Apple is not happy about the whole thing at all. The iPhone maker believes that it is illegal for Corellium to peddle the virtual iOS with its customers without having secured a license from Apple. In addition to that, Apple has also alleged that the assertion about selling it to security researchers is also spurious and claimed that the company is selling the knockoff platform to anyone who is willing to pay the fee.
Other than the fact that Apple is losing out on revenues, the virtualized version of the iOS is a security risk as well if it falls into the wrong hands. A virtualized version of the operating system allows the user to pause the whole thing and then study the code much more closely. That way he will be able to dig out any of the vulnerabilities of the system in question. Hence, if it is bought by hackers en masse then it goes without saying that it could prove to be a big blow for Apple. Apple prides itself on the world-class security features that it provides to its customers through its flagship operating system. However, if it is compromised due to this product from Corellium, then it becomes a direct threat to the company’s business and hence, the lawsuit is not surprising. Apple has demanded an injunction so that Corellium is unable to sell its product.
