How to Detect GoldPickaxe in iOS Apps Using AI

Last updated February 9, 2025 by Appdome

This Knowledge Base article describes how to use Appdome’s AI/ML in your CI/CD pipeline to continuously deliver plugins that Detect GoldPickaxe in iOS apps.

What is GoldPickaxe?

Gold Pickaxe is a sophisticated iOS malware identified by Group-IB, capable of covertly targeting iPhones to perform malicious activities like intercepting biometric data, spying on SMS messages, and tracking web activities. It leverages iOS vulnerabilities and command-and-control (CNC) techniques to maintain persistent, undetected access. The malware can manipulate apps, take screenshots, and disable critical functions, posing significant risks to user privacy and device integrity. Protecting against Gold Pickaxe is essential to secure user data, prevent remote exploits, and comply with GDPR and similar mandates, which require robust measures against such advanced threats.

How Appdome Protects Against GoldPickaxe iOS Trojan?

Appdome’s dynamic Detect Gold Pickaxe plugin protects iOS apps by detecting unauthorized MDM profiles and monitoring changes in device configurations for potential compromise. The plugin identifies suspicious CNC malware commands by analyzing network traffic and system logs, blocking attempts to control devices remotely. Developers can use Appdome’s Threat-Events™ to gather data on Gold Pickaxe-related threats and customize app responses to enhance security.

Prerequisites for Using Appdome's Detect GoldPickaxe Plugins:

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Detect GoldPickaxe , you’ll need:

How to Implement Detect GoldPickaxe in iOS Apps Using Appdome

On Appdome, follow these 3 simple steps to create self-defending iOS Apps that Detect GoldPickaxe without an SDK or gateway:

  1. Designate the Mobile App to be protected.

    1. Upload an app via the Appdome Mobile Defense platform GUI or via Appdome’s DEV-API or CI/CD Plugins.

    2. iOS Formats: .ipa
    3. Detect GoldPickaxe is compatible with: Obj-C, Java, Swift, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, Cordova and other iOS apps.
  2. Select the defense: Detect GoldPickaxe.

      1. Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Detect GoldPickaxe feature as shown below:
        fusion set that contains Detect GoldPickaxe

        Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Detect GoldPickaxe feature

      2. Follow the steps in Sections 2.2-2.2.2 of this article to add the Detect GoldPickaxe feature to your Fusion Set via the Appdome Console.

      3. When you select the Detect GoldPickaxe you'll notice that the Fusion Set you created in step 2.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Detect GoldPickaxe.

        Fusion Set applied Detect GoldPickaxe

        Figure 2: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Detect GoldPickaxe protection
        Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory).

      4. Open the Fusion Set Detail Summary by clicking the “...” symbol on the far-right corner of the Fusion Set. Copy the Fusion Set ID from the Fusion Set Detail Summary (as shown below): fusion Set Detail Summary image

        Figure 3: Fusion Set Detail Summary

      5. Follow the instructions below to use the Fusion Set ID inside any standard mobile DevOps or CI/CD toolkit like Bitrise, Jenkins, Travis, Team City, Circle CI or other system:
        1. Refer to the Appdome API Reference Guide for API building instructions.
        2. Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository.
    1. Add the Detect GoldPickaxe feature to your security template.

      1. Navigate to Build > Anti ATO tab > iOS Trojans section in the Appdome Console.
      2. Toggle On > Detect GoldPickaxe.

        (a) Choose to monitor this attack vector by checking the Threat Events checkbox associated with Detect GoldPickaxe as shown below.

        (b) To receive mobile Threat Monitoring, check the ThreatScope™ box as shown below. For more details, see our knowledge base article on ThreatScope™ Mobile XDR.
        Detect GoldPickaxe option

        Figure 4: Selecting Detect GoldPickaxe

        Note: The Appdome Platform displays the Mobile Operation Systems supported by each defense in real-time. For more details, see our OS Support Policy KB.

      3. Select the Threat-Event™ in-app mobile Threat Defense and Intelligence policy for Detect GoldPickaxe:
        1. Threat-Events™ OFF > In-App Defense

          If the Threat-Events™ setting is not selected. Appdome will detect and defend the user and app by enforcing GoldPickaxe.

        2. Threat-Events™ ON > In-App Detection

          When this setting is used, Appdome detects GoldPickaxe has been installed on the iOS mobile device and passes Appdome’s Threat-Event™ attack intelligence to the app’s business logic for processing, enforcement, and user notification. For more information on consuming and using Appdome Threat-Events™ in the app, see section Using Threat-Events™ to Detect GoldPickaxeDetect Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.

        3. Threat-Events™ ON > In-App Defense

          When this setting is used, Appdome detects and defends against GoldPickaxe (same as Appdome Enforce) and passes Appdome’s Threat-Event™ attack intelligence to the app’s business logic for processing. For more information on consuming and using Appdome Threat-Events™ in the app, see section Using Threat-Events™ for Detect GoldPickaxeDetect Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.

      4. Configure the User Experience Options for Detect GoldPickaxe:
        With Threat-Events™ OFF, Appdome provides several user experience options for mobile brands and developers.
        1. App Compromise Notification: Customize the pop-up or toast Appdome uses to notify the user when a threat is present while using the protected mobile app.
        2. Short message Option. This is available for mobile devices that allow a banner notification for security events.
        3. Localized Message Option. Allows Appdome users to support global languages in security notifications.

          Localized Message

          Figure 5: Default User Experience Options for Appdome’s GoldPickaxe

        4. Detect GoldPickaxe Threat Code™. Appdome uses AI/ML to generate a unique code each time Detect GoldPickaxe is triggered by an active threat on the mobile device. Use the code in Appdome Threat Resolution Center™ to help end users identify, find and resolve active threats on the personal mobile devices.
    2. Initiate the build command either by clicking Build My App at the bottom of the Build Workflow (shown in Figure 4) or via your CI/CD as described in Section 2.1.4.
    Congratulations!  The Detect GoldPickaxe protection is now added to the mobile app
  3. Certify the Detect GoldPickaxe feature in iOS Apps

    After building Detect GoldPickaxe, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the Detect GoldPickaxe protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the Detect GoldPickaxe protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below: Detect GoldPickaxe shown in Certificate secure

    Figure 6: Certified Secure™ certificate

    Each Certified Secure™ certificate provides DevOps and DevSecOps organizations the entire workflow summary, audit trail of each build, and proof of protection that Detect GoldPickaxe has been added to each iOS app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that Detect GoldPickaxe and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app.

Using Threat-Events™ for GoldPickaxe Intelligence and Control in iOS Apps

Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when GoldPickaxe is detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for GoldPickaxe in iOS Apps, use AddObserverForName in Notification Center, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for GoldPickaxe shown below.

The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for GoldPickaxe are:

Threat-Event™ Elements Detect GoldPickaxe Method Detail
Appdome Feature Name Detect GoldPickaxe
Threat-Event Mode
OFF, IN-APP DEFENSE Appdome detects, defends and notifies user (standard OS dialog) using customizable messaging.
ON, IN-APP DETECTION Appdome detects the attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (app chooses how and when to enforce).
ON, IN-APP DEFENSE Uses Appdome Enforce mode for any attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (gather intel on attacks and threats without losing any protection).
Certified Secure™ Threat Event Check
Visible in ThreatScope™
Developer Parameters for Detecting GoldPickaxe Threat-Event™
Threat-Event NAME InstalledMDMProfileDetected
Threat-Event DATA reasonData
Threat-Event CODE reasonCode
Threat-Event REF 6801
Threat-Event SCORE
currentThreatEventScore Current Threat-Event score
threatEventsScore Total Threat-events score
Threat-Event Context Keys
message Message displayed for the user on event
failSafeEnforce Timed enforcement against the identified threat
externalID The external ID of the event which can be listened via Threat Events
osVersion OS version of the current device
deviceModel Current device model
deviceManufacturer The manufacturer of the current device
fusedAppToken The task ID of the Appdome fusion of the currently running app
kernelInfo Info about the kernel: system name, node name, release, version and machine.
deviceID Current device ID
reasonCode Reason code of the occurred event
buildDate Appdome fusion date of the current application
devicePlatform OS name of the current device
updatedOSVersion Is the OS version up to date
timeZone Time zone
deviceFaceDown Is the device face down
locationLong Location longitude conditioned by location permission
locationLat Location latitude conditioned by location permission
locationState Location state conditioned by location permission
wifiSsid Wifi SSID
wifiSsidPermissionStatus Wifi SSID permission status
threatCode The last six characters of the threat code specify the OS, allowing the Threat Resolution Center to address the attack on the affected device.

With Threat-Events™ enabled (turned ON), iOS developers can get detailed attack intelligence and granular defense control in iOS applications and create amazing user experiences for all mobile end users when GoldPickaxe is detected.


The following is a code sample for native iOS apps, which uses all values in the specification above for Detect GoldPickaxe:


Important! Replace all placeholder instances of <Context Key> with the specific name of your threat event context key across all language examples. This is crucial to ensure your code functions correctly with the intended event data. For example, The <Context Key> could be the message, externalID, OS Version, reason code, etc.



Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured Apps by using Detect GoldPickaxe. There is no SDK and no library to code or implement in the app and no gateway to deploy in your network. All protections are built into each app and the resulting app is self-defending and self-protecting.

Releasing and Publishing Mobile Apps with Detect GoldPickaxe

After successfully securing your app by using Appdome, there are several available options to complete your project, depending on your app lifecycle or workflow. These include:

Related Articles:

How Do I Learn More?

If you have any questions, please send them our way at support.appdome.com or via the chat window on the Appdome platform.

Thank you!

Thanks for visiting Appdome! Our mission is to secure every app on the planet by making mobile app security easy. We hope we’re living up to the mission with your project.

Want a Demo?

Android and iOS Trojan Prevention

AlanWe're here to help
We'll get back to you in 24 hours to schedule your demo.

Search Appdome Solutions

Search
Ai Driven Attacks With Tampering Blog

AI-Driven Scams and Fraud

As AI-driven attacks become more sophisticated and common, developers and organizations must keep up. With AI agents, liveness and voice recognition checks no longer matter. That means app makers…