iPhone Virus: Myth Or Reality?
But in case you missed our previous posts about jailbroken iPhones, jailbreaking is a process which allows your iPhone to download all apps and services that have not been approved or accepted by Apple.
You can even go one step further to unlock your iPhone, which allows your iPhone to be used with other services such as T-Mobile.
Recently, rumors swirled around about an iPhone virus. Recently getting a virus on my families’ PC, I was very curious to check this out and avoid any future mishaps.
Upon further investigation, I found out there have been three viruses that have come about from jailbroken iPhones.
1) Ikee: The first, Ikee, was pretty harmless and only changed the wallpaper on the screen of your iPhone to Rick Astley.
Pretty funny, I probably would just think one of my friends had done it. But the good news was, the Australian programmer who made the virus only did it to raise awareness of what can happen when people jailbreak their iPhones and don’t change their passwords.
*Note: When you set up your iPhone you should always change your password from the default one!
2) Duh Worm: Unfortunately the second virus, the Duh Worm, was not so friendly…
These hackers out of the Netherlands were after passwords to banking sites. When the iPhone user tries to sign onto their bank sites, they are unknowingly redirected to another site, which looks exactly like their bank’s site, but this one is controlled by the hackers.
*Note: Apparently Dutch clients of ING were targeted and there hasn’t been anyone hacked in the US yet.
3) iPhone/Privacy: This virus downloads malicious software onto your phone which gives the virus authors complete access and control of your iPhone. They then can access and copy any data, including emails, contacts, calendars, photos, SMSs, videos, and anything else they so choose.
So what have we learned?
If you unlock your iPhone, CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD EARLY AND OFTEN!
