After a Short Break Apple's iPhone Faces Another Virus

If you look back on two weeks, you might remember miserable events related to security issues of jailbroken iPhones.

The first iPhone worm virus was found not so long ago. Some users of jailbroken iPhones have been left with a worm virus with the picture of 80s singer Rick Astley as their wallpaper. The virus only spread on phones which had been 'jailbroken', that is to say, their owners had modified them so that they could run software without Apple's authorization. After the first worm virus invasion, there has been a new intrusion for users of unlocked iPhone.

With reference to the first virus, sadly, some of those iPhone users, who did so, gave a possibility for hackers to grab the handset by a major security breach if they didn't change the default password to obtain root rights. This enabled access to the whole operating system of the phone. The author of the virus said he didn't attempt to make any damage and had spread it to emphasize the security mistake the users made. The current virus contains phishing and privacy risks.

How does the specific worm spread?

This worm searches for new victims on the networks infected iPhones connect to. It looks to have been created in the Netherlands, since it also redirects tries to enterthe online banking site for Dutch bank ING to a fake page. It's believed this is the first major mobile phone virus generated with the purpose to steal money instead of just lead to chaos. The Dutch bank ING has linked the worm to a criminal network. Similarly to computer worms, this piece of malware is also using the same methods as botnets, which intervene in desktop computers.

An aim of the worm 'Duh' or 'Ikee.B' is like its predecessor and it is even more sinister. The worm tries to make iPhones seem vulnerable, but in this case, involves a series of IPs from a distinct countries like Netherlands, Portugal Australia, Austria and Hungary. Cluley, of Consutor Technology Sophos said that the newest iPhone malware it is doubly threatening because it not only remotely accesses the iPhone without user's consent, but also gives up control of the phone to a server-based in Lithuania. A researcher with anti-virus software added that that makes the iPhone into a zombie, ready to download and run any command attackers might need in the future.

At present, because of iPhone-driven apps revolution, smartphones could in truth be called handheld computers. Therefore, users should be aware of not only how to keep their desktop computers protected, but also to have to learn how to keep their handheld computers, their smartphones safe. At this moment, there is no cure available for this specific virus. The only possibility to avoid it is to back up everything on the phone and then use its Restore function to time warp back to the original factory settings. Except that the user notices the ING redirection, there's no visible technique to say if a handset includes the 'Duh' virus.