New iPhone worm is never gonna give you up
Monday, November 9, 2009
Apple partisans routinely tout their ostensible immunity to the majority of computer threats, but a new worm that targets user-modified iPhones may make their faces as red as Rick Astley's hair.
The worm, known as ikee, is not thought to be particularly malicious - its only purpose seems to be to change the iPhone's background to a picture of cult singer Rick Astley and display the message "ikee is never gonna give you up." The worm is thought to be related to a popular internet prank, where users expecting certain content are redirected instead to a YouTube video of the singer's hit song "Never Gonna Give You Up."
The malware appears to work only on iPhones that users have "jailbroken," or made usable on networks other than Apple's partner AT&T. Having installed the usual Unix secure shell (SSH) but not changed the password makes the device vulnerable to ikee.
An unemployed Australian programmer, Ashley Towns, is said to be responsible for creating ikee. In an interview with an employee of his ISP, Towns said that the intent of ikee was to demonstrate vulnerabilities in jailbroken iPhones.
Related News:
Network security update not responsible for crashes - 2.24.2010
Reports of the so-called "blue screen of death" following the installation of the latest Microsoft security update are the result of malware, not a defect in the update.
Botnets and Chuck Norris take aim at network security - 2.22.2010
Last week, word spread of the Kneber botnet compromising more than 2,000 computers worldwide. With the start of a new week comes more malware attacks plaguing the web community. The so-called "Chuck Norris" botnet is attacking routers and DSL modems by guessing commonly used passwords.
Web security company warns of scareware's risk - 2.19.2010
The rise in scareware attacks and cyber criminal behavior in general forced DynaSis, an IT services company, to issue a warning to its users about the threat of fake anti-virus software infecting their computers on Friday.
Age-old trick with brand-new target - 1.18.2010
Cyber criminals have turned to a scam from the early days of the internet to target the growing smartphone market: Trojan phone dialers.
Report: 'At least 34' firms attacked at the same time as Google - 1.15.2010
The Washington Post asserts that many U.S. companies were targeted in the same network security and email breach that affected Google and provoked the company's highly publicized spat with the Chinese government.
|
