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November 10, 2009

Australian Student Creates Virus Using 80's Icon to Attack iPhone
By Susan J. Campbell
TMCnet Contributing Editor

For any woman who came of age in the 1980s – or at least had a subscription to Teen Beat – the image and voice of Rick Astley was a permanent fixture. For iPhone (News - Alert) users today, it sparks a much different reaction.



As Talek Harris of the AFP reported today, an Australian student has been able to infiltrate Apple’s (News - Alert) iPhone with pictures of Astley with the use of a worm he created. While this student claims he created this worm to prove the iPhone is susceptible to malicious attacks, experts warn he just may have gotten too much attention from the wrong crowd.

Ashley Towns, 21, who lives with his family near Sydney, told Harris that the virus is pretty much an exploitation of people’s lazy approach to changing their password. He highlights that those with more malicious intent could have done any number of things, including reading SMSs, going through e-mails and viewing contacts and photos.

An iPhone affected by the virus will be obvious as its wallpaper will be swapped out with an image of Astley and the words “Ikee is never gonna give you up.” This phrase is, of course, in reference to the British star’s 1987 hit: "Never Gonna Give You Up".

The good news is that this virus will only affect the iPhones that have been modified in order to install applications that have not been approved by Apple. The bad news is that it could open up a whole new realm of possibilities for those seeking a pastime that includes attacking smartphones.

Peter Coroneos, chief executive of Australia’s Internet Industry Association told Harris that his organization views this as a very serious development. "This should raise awareness of viruses and that people should not regard cellphones as being any more secure than computers."

Whether this virus opens up new threats or not, it is creating opportunities – for Towns. A technical college student, he is now reportedly a new target for software firms seeking to add to their teams.

Towns’ worm works by tapping into the popular “Rickrolling” Internet phenomenon. Clicks on the booby-trapped Web links take unsuspecting users to video footage of Astley performing his song, "Never Gonna Give You Up".

Apple has repeatedly warned customers against jail-breaking their iPhones and assured customers that only those devices with unauthorized software were vulnerable to any kind of attack.

“As we've said before, the vast majority of customers do not jail-break their iPhones, and for good reason,” company officials said. “These hacks not only violate the warranty, they will also cause the iPhone to become unstable and not work reliably.”

New applications emerge almost daily for the Apple iPhone. Earlier today, Pingo (News - Alert) announced EZ Dial. This new smartphone application delivers automatic access to discount calling rates for users of mobile devices.

It is those applications that are not approved by Apple that will cause the most trouble, as Towns demonstrated. With such a threat to their smartphone, users will have to take the risk if they want to work outside of the system. 

Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Kelly McGuire

 






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