Hackers have exploited the same vulnerability as thefirst iPhone worm, but unlike Ikee, this attack is
malicious, saysecurity researchers.
The Ikee worm merely changed the victim's wallpaper to an image
of singer Rick Astley, but a new piece of malware targeting
jailbroken iPhones steals personal data.
The malware is a tool identified as iPhone/Privacy.A by
researchers at security firm Intego that enables hackers to copy
personal information recorded by any iPhone app.
The tool does not install anything on the iPhone or leave any
evidence that data has been copied, but targets only jailbroken
iPhones using SSH and the default password.
It is extremely dangerous to jailbreak an iPhone to run
non-Apple approve apps and work across all mobile networks because
of the vulnerabilities this creates, said Intego.
Hackers using this tool can install it on an iPhone or any
computer, where it scans the network accessible to it for any
jailbroken iPhones to break into and steal data.
This means any jailbroken iPhones that pass in range of hackers'
computer Wi-Fi or iPhone range can be accessed.
The only way business can combat the use of this tool, said
Intego, is by preventing the hacker tool from being installed on
company computers.