Return of the iPhone worm

Posted on 23 Nov 2009 at 16:51

Online criminals have started to exploit a security hole in certain iPhones and iPod Touch devices. The attack involves stealing banking information, as well as joining the internet-connected device to a network of systems under the control of the attacker. This allows the criminals to send commands to the gadgets.

Dutch ISP XS4ALL first reported unusual traffic running through its network, posting the following comment on its blog:

"[The worm]has the potential to access your private information and steal your SMS history, as well as phone home to the bad-guys for additional commands to run."

The worm also changes the root password on the device so that users become less able to sort out the problem.

Once infected, the iPhone or iPod Touch tries to connect to a Lithuanian web server and uploads stolen data. It then hands control over to the so-called 'bot master', according to internet security firm Sophos. The company also notes that when devices are hooked up to WiFi signals the worm is able to spread faster.

A visible symptom of an infection is a vastly-reduced battery charge life due to the amount of network traffic being handled.

As with previous iPhone exploits that have appeared this month, the worm only affects 'jailbroken' phones that have been reconfigured by their owners.

Author: Simon Edwards

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