World's First iPhone Virus Changes Wallpaper to Rick Astley

[Deleted-171178]

Today Dailymail.co.uk (linked above) is reporting that the world's first iPhone virus has surfaced, which apparently changes your wallpaper to a picture of Rick Astley.

Since the recent jigbreak, those who did not change their root password are vulnerable as it will reportedly turn on the iPhone's SSH service.

To quote: "A 21-year-old Australian claims to be the first hacker in the world to infect the iPhone with a virus.

It spreads between phones with each call but the damage extends to changing the device's wallpaper - to a photo of Eighties pop star Rick Astley famous for his hit Never Gonna Give You Up.

Sydney student Ashley Towns said he wanted to raise the issue of security, adding: 'What I've done has shown that anyone can easily hack into an iPhone'.

Mr Towns' virus can only infect iPhones which have been 'jailbroken' by their owners - an action that allows phone owners to install applications on their phones which have not been approved by Apple."

Source: PS3News

 

[Vidboy10]

Thats not really a virus...

 

[Hatsu]

Ha. Funny!

 

[Veho]

Thats not really a virus...

What is it?

 

[redact]

+1 for aussie hackers

 

[rithsv]

Thats not really a virus...

What is it?

A vulnerability?

Should've chosen a better wallpaper to change to..

 

[XtremeCore]

Thats not really a virus...

What is it?

A vulnerability?

Should've chosen a better wallpaper to change to..

And should have come with Never Gonna Give You Up ring tone too!

 

[zuron7]

I dobt apples gonna security patch this one as it's good for them.

 

[Ritsuki]

I lol'd. Massive rickroll on iPhone :')

 

[luke_c]

This is not the first iPhone virus, there was one a few months back, guess i better change my root password.

 

[Canonbeat234]

Interesting and he doesn't even have a job =/ Apple should hire this person to create more viruses so Iphone and Ipod touch users have to buy norton antivirus apps, so they all can be in the endless cycle of fixing their devices each time they get brick!

 

[iPikachu]

the virus should have played the rickroll.

 

[Mr.Mysterio]

Interesting and he doesn't even have a job =/ Apple should hire this person to create more viruses so Iphone and Ipod touch users have to buy norton antivirus apps, so they all can be in the endless cycle of fixing their devices each time they get brick!

I seriously hope Apple doesn't see your suggestion.
I am pretty sure Apple wont do anything about this seeing as it only affects Jailbroken iPhones.

 

[Maikel Steneker]

Let me guess: he just uses SSH on IP adresses that belong to iPhone and uses the standard user name and password to log in. This has happened before. Maybe he made a virus out of it, that could be possible.

This could spread very fast. A lot of people install OpenSSH without changing the password. That's just asking for problems; anyone has direct access to your device.

 

[Raika]

This virus is... unique...

 

[GamerzInc]

if ssh is off, this doesnt work, right?

 

[Maikel Steneker]

if ssh is off, this doesnt work, right?

If my guess is correct it won't. But even if it is activated, you can change the password very easily by logging in and using the passwd command.

 

[RupeeClock]

How can you call it an iPhone virus if you have to make a conscious choice to illegitimately modify your iPhone, and add a function without changing the default password?

That's not a virus, that's...just making yourself a target. :|

 

[shakirmoledina]

more of a notification tht iphone is hackable than a virus cuz it doesnt slow down the iphone or anything that any malware does (check out wiki for more)

 

[DeMoN]

That's a pretty smart virus if it can spread just by making a call. Don't see what the point of this is though, everyone knows that jailbroken iPhones are vulnerable and Apple basically doesn't care about them.