First iPhone Worm Spreads Rick Astley
Yes, you read that correctly. The first iPhone Worm that has been discovered does not constantly reboot your handset, nor does it search for stored personal details. Instead, it changes your background to a photo of Rick Astley, and delivers a message saying, “Ikee is never going to give you up”.
It then searches for other phones on your network to infect.
The worm only targets jailbroken iPhones and so far has only been seen in Australia, giving credence to the fact that people down under may have a bit too much leisure time on their hands.
It was written by a 21 year-old unemployed programmer from Wollongong. He explained his actions in an instant-message interview: “It was supposed to be a small prank I definitely wasn’t expecting it to get as far as it did.”
He had wanted to show people that they should change any default iPhone passwords, especially if they’re using SSH.
“A lot of people especially at first thanked me,” he said. “I think most people are relieved it’s not out to destroy their phone. I have had a few people abuse me though.”
If your iPhone is jailbroken and you’ve installed SSH, your handset is susceptible to an attack if you don’t change the default password of “alpine”.
If you have an iPhone that hasn’t gone through the rigmarole of a jailbreak, you’re safe from walking around all day with “Together Forever” in your head.
For those that have been a bit cheeky and have jailbroken your iPhone but haven’t installed SSH, you’re also safe from a new brooding wallpaper and tapping toes.
Related posts:
- New iPhone Malware Emerges: Privacy A
- Worm aimed at overzealous Twitterers
- New Mac worm more a damp squib
- iPhone Roundup; Sky TV App, Orange Availability and O2 Unlocking
Share and Enjoy:
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Genius! Another reason to come to Aus!