Acquiring users has always been a major challenge for game developers. Against this backdrop, the positive impact of cross-platform interoperability on user acquisition has gained widespread recognition. However, from a game security perspective, when viewed as a unified whole, security issues arising on any platform within an interoperable ecosystem can lead to more severe consequences than ever before.
Compared to the open-source Android system, iOS's unique closed ecosystem ensures greater security and stability through rigorous layered review and testing of hardware, software, and services. However, this has led some companies to become complacent, neglecting security concerns during iOS development.
According to JikGuard's observations, iOS's closed-source ecosystem offers a certain level of security, but it is not without vulnerabilities. For instance, a common method of cheating on iOS devices is iOS jailbreaking.
After jailbreaking an iOS device through a series of procedures, users gain root access to the operating system. They can then use software like Cydia to install third-party applications outside the App Store, facilitating the use of game Cheats and hacks.
iOS Jailbreak Badge — Installing Cydia Manager
As game security countermeasures intensify, cheat developers have exploited increasingly undetectable iOS vulnerabilities—Trollstore jailbreak-free cheating.
This cheating method exploits the CoreTrust vulnerability in iOS systems, which bypasses signature verification. Under normal circumstances, installing apps on iOS requires going through the App Store, and app submissions necessitate certificate verification, such as personal certificates or enterprise certificates.
Trollstore Jailbreak-Free Cheat Tool
Installing apps using the TrollStore tool relies on IPA installation packages and does not require certificates. This means that after installing the TrollStore tool, iOS devices can freely install external apps without jailbreaking. This exploit has been exploited by game piracy operations to distribute cracked versions of games and game Cheats, causing significant harm to numerous games.
To address various security challenges in iOS gaming, JikGuard has developed a mature and comprehensive protection solution. This solution has been integrated into multiple popular games and has demonstrated outstanding protection capabilities.
▶ Anti-Debugging Protection
Dual-layered defense: First employs detection methods such as ptrace, syscall, sysctl, and exception handling, then encrypts the protective code for enhanced effectiveness.
▶ Anti-Jailbreak Protection
Comprehensive multi-dimensional detection, such as checking the installation of certain apps, file presence, directory access permissions, etc., to determine whether a device has been jailbroken.
▶ Anti-Resignation Protection
Precisely verifies the package's internal signature by comparing the signature stored during hardening with the signature obtained at runtime.
▶ Anti-Modification Protection
During the code countermeasure defense phase, JikGuard provides local detection code and safeguards its integrity.
