vShare is currently one of the largest pirated application websites for iOS si Android, making almost any application available in Google Play or the App Store available to users free of charge.
vShare is the replacement of the defunct project Installous which for years provided pirated apps to iDevice owners around the world, Apple's lawyers managed to force its shutdown a few years ago, and now it looks like the same thing will happen to vShare.
The vShare website was created by a Chinese company and its great advantage over previous projects is that it allows installing pirated applications including on iPhones, iPads or iPod Touches that do not have a jailbreak done, so theoretically anyone can benefit from what he offers.
To allow installing pirated applications without jailbreak, vShare uses at least 4 enterprise certificates offered by Apple to companies developing applications for the iOS platform, and at least one of them would have already been blocked by those in Cupertino.
According to Proofpoint, vShare pirates managed to get their hands on several Apple enterprise certificates, using them to create a vShare app. Proofpoint said it noticed that vShare has been cycling through four different Apple-issued certificates to pull off its feat, and Proofpoint reported the issue to Apple.
A company specialized in computer security called Proofpoint analyzed vShare and the method by which the website allows the installation of applications, they sent Apple information on the security certificates used to allow the installation of applications even on terminals without jailbreak.
Although Apple tolerated vShare for years, it seems that the company has now decided to block at least one of the security certificates used by the website to allow the installation of applications, or at least this is the discovery of the researchers.
According to them, the installation of applications via vShare is no longer possible, the download being allowed, but the application closes immediately after completion in iPhone, iPad or iPod Touches, this being the result of the blocking of at least one of the security certificates.
On Tuesday night, we were still able to download the vShare app onto an iPhone 6 running iOS 8.4, but the app was unable to install, indicating that Apple might have already revoked at least one of its certificates. Patrick Wardle, a researcher at cybersecurity firm Synack, described vShare as a "cat and mouse game, where new or stolen certificates are constantly being added for abuse."
Even if Apple has now blocked at least one security certificate used by vShare, the researchers say that these certificates can be easily replaced by the Chinese, and the installation of applications will be allowed again in terminals, so the process cannot be stopped that easy.
The only method by which Apple can block vShare is an involvement of the Chinese authorities who would block the website and seize the servers that contain the software on which it works, but this will not happen anytime soon.
vShare has been and will remain a main source of pirated applications for users around the world and it is unlikely that Apple will try to block it permanently even if the application developers and implicitly it loses money.
