How to Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware in iOS Mobile Apps

Last updated September 29, 2024 by Appdome

Learn to Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware in iOS apps, in mobile CI/CD with a Data-Driven DevSecOps™ build system.

What is Gold Pickaxe Malware?

Gold Pickaxe malware is a sophisticated iOS trojan discovered by the security firm Group-IB. It is notable for being one of the first of its kind to target iOS devices. Once installed on an iPhone, Gold Pickaxe can perform a range of malicious activities, including collecting a user’s biometric information from photos, intercepting SMS text messages, and monitoring web activity. This level of access allows the attacker to remotely control significant aspects of the device, such as taking screenshots, restricting device functionalities, and manipulating application behaviors. The malware achieves this by exploiting vulnerabilities in the device’s operating system and leveraging sophisticated command-and-control (CNC) techniques to maintain persistent and covert access to the compromised device.

How Does Appdome Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware?

Appdome’s approach to defending against Gold Pickaxe malware involves detecting whether critical stages of the malware have been installed on the device, specifically through Mobile Device Management (MDM). The MDM stage allows a device to execute remote management commands or queries, indicating a potential compromise.

Our Detect Gold Pickaxe plugin performs two primary detections:

Checking the existence of MDM profiles: Appdome determines if an unauthorized MDM profile is installed by checking specific indicators on the device.

Registering for MDM server message notifications: This method captures changes in the device’s MDM configuration, alerting to potential malware activity.

Additionally, the “Detect CNC Malware Commands” sub-toggle enhances protection by analyzing network traffic and system logs for suspicious CNC command patterns. CNC (Command-and-Control) commands are instructions sent by a remote attacker to control the infected device, such as retrieving data, executing specific tasks, or modifying settings. This comprehensive defense mechanism ensures that any attempts by Gold Pickaxe malware to control the device or execute malicious commands are promptly detected and addressed, safeguarding the user’s data and device integrity.

Prerequisites for Using Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware:

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

Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware on iOS apps using Appdome

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

  1. Upload the Mobile App to Appdome.

    1. Upload an app to Appdome’s Mobile App Security Build System

    2. Upload Method: Appdome Console or DEV-API
    3. iOS Formats: .ipa
    4. Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware Compatible With: Obj-C, Java, Swift, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, Cordova and more
  2. Build the feature: Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware.

    1. Building Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware by using Appdome’s DEV-API:

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

        Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware feature
        Note: Naming the Fusion Set to correspond to the protection(s) selected is for illustration purposes only (not required).

      3. Follow the steps in Sections 2.2.1-2.2.2 of this article, Building the Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware feature via Appdome Console, to add the Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware feature to this Fusion Set.

      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 2: Fusion Set Detail Summary
        Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory).

      5. Follow the instructions below to use the Fusion Set ID inside any standard mobile DevOps or CI/CD toolkit like Bitrise, App Center, Jenkins, Travis, Team City, Circle CI or other system:
        1. Build an API for the app – for instructions, see the tasks under Appdome API Reference Guide
        2. Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository
    2. Building the Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware feature via Appdome Console

      To build the Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware protection by using Appdome Console, follow the instructions below.

      1. Where: Inside the Appdome Console, go to Build > Anti Fraud Tab > Social Engineering Prevention section.
      2. How: Check whether is toggled On (enabled), otherwise enable it . The feature Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware is enabled by default, as shown below. Toggle (turn ON) Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware, as shown below.
        If needed, Customize the Threat Notification to be displayed to the mobile end-user in a standard OS dialog notification when Appdome Detects Gold Pickaxe Malware.
        Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware option

        Figure 3: Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware option
        Note: The App Compromise Notification contains an easy to follow default remediation path for the mobile app end user. You can customize this message as required to achieve brand specific support, workflow or other messaging.

      3. When you select the Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware you'll notice that your Fusion Set you created in step 2.1.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware

        Fusion Set applied Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware

        Figure 4: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware protection

      4. Select the Threat-Event™ in-app mobile Threat Defense and Intelligence policy for Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware:
        1. Threat-Events™ OFF > In-App Defense

          If the Threat-Events™ setting is cleared (not selected). Appdome will detect and defend the user and app by enforcing Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware.

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

          When this setting is used, Appdome detects Gold Pickaxe malware 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™ for Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.

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

          When this setting is used, Appdome detects and defends against Gold Pickaxe Malware (same as Appdome Enforce) and passes Appdome’s Threat-Event™ attack intelligence 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 Gold Pickaxe Malware Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.

      5. Click Build My App at the bottom of the Build Workflow (shown in Figure 3).
    Congratulations!  The Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware protection is now added to the mobile app
  3. Certify the Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware feature in iOS Apps

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

    Figure 5: 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 Gold Pickaxe Malware has been added to each iOS app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app

Using Threat-Events™ for Gold Pickaxe Malware Intelligence and Control in iOS Apps

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

The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for Gold Pickaxe Malware are:

Threat-Event™ Elements Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware Method Detail
Appdome Feature Name Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware
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 Gold Pickaxe Malware 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

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 Gold Pickaxe Malware is detected.


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


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 iOS Apps by using Detect Gold Pickaxe Malware. 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 Gold Pickaxe Malware

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.

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