socialmedian: First iPhone worm targets modified handsets

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First iPhone worm targets modified handsets

Source: Washington Post

Nov 09, 2009

Summary

The first known computer worm written for Apple's iPhone currently is infecting iPhones in Australia, swapping out the device's background image with that of 80s singer Rick Astley. The contagion, dubbed "Ikee," spreads only among iPhones that have been "jailbroken," a process that removes the device's software protection mechanisms and allows iPhone users to install applications that are not available through Apple's official App Store. Ikee spreads not through any vulnerability exactly, but by exploiting a feature that many users of jailbroken iPhones likely never took the time to understand or read about. Most of the software packages that users install in order to jailbreak their iPhones come with a service known as Secure Shell (SSH). This service allows the devices to be accessed remotely over the Internet with a special password. The trouble is that the most common jailbreaking software installs SSH using a default password. As a result,