First code red iPhone virus unleashed in Europe

A new, malicious iPhone virus thought to be based on the code developed by 21 year old Australia Ashley Towns has been discovered in Europe.

The ‘Duh’ virus enables hackers to completely hijack unlocked iPhones, stealing passwords, account details and other personal information.

According to reports, affected handsets are permanently connected to a ‘control centre’, thought to be located in Lithuania, which issues a series of malicious commands to the handsets.

The virus was first detected in Holland earlier this week. ING banking customers with iPhones affected by the virus were redirected to a phoney online banking site when they tried to log-in to the ING website. ING is said to be monitoring user accounts for any transactions it deems suspicious.

"It's the second iPhone worm ever and the first that's clearly malicious – there's a clear financial motive behind it," Mikko Hypponen, director of internet security specialist, F-Secure, told the BBC. "It's fairly isolated and specific to Netherlands but it is capable of spreading."

Hypponen added although the number of infected phones was thought to be in the hundreds rather than thousands, the worm could jump from phone to phone among owners using the same wi-fi hotspot.

News of the virus should prove of particular concern to the thousands of consumers in the Middle East who use unlocked iPhones.

Security specialists are advising all iPhone users to change the root password on their handsets. Affected users will find the password has been altered remotely from the default “Alpine” to “ohshit”.

To remove the malware, users should access iTunes and restore the operating system to Apple’s firmware.

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