THE NEWS WRAP: China’s iPhone users get caught by the Great Firewall

China received its first official iPhones last week, but the Chinese firewall is blocking all local connections to iCloud.com, instead redirecting users to a dummy site which looks exactly like Apple’s login page.

Users browsing the web with Chrome or Firefox will see a warning page, but those using Qihoo, the most popular browser in China will be taken straight to the dummy site with no indication that it is not run by Apple. A similar attack is being used against Microsoft’s Login.live.com.

The Verge speculates that because the attack is taking place at the level of the Great Firewall, it is likely that it’s an attempt by Chinese authorities to harvest usernames and passwords.

IBM abandons 2015 profit target

IBM has abandoned a long-promised plan to deliver $20 a share in profits by 2015 after a significant slowdown in spending by its clients that sent its shares falling by more than 8%, Re/code reports.

The company says it missed sales and profit expectations for the quarter, blaming an “unprecedented change” in the IT industry.

Apple releases iOS 8.1

The latest update for iOS is now publicly available and comes with new features like Apple Pay, iCloud Photo Library and additional Continuity features.

The update is available on iPhone 4s and higher, iPad 2 and higher, iPad Mini and higher, and iPad touch fifth generation. The Apple Pay feature is only available for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 19.26 to 16,399.67. The Australian dollar is currently trading at US88 cents.