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iPhone Virus: How Do I Protect Myself?

By Steve Barton

So there is an iPhone virus out there. And it was created by Charlie Miller, the head analyst at Independent Security Evaluators, to show the big boys at Apple that they had better get their act together before something much more dangerous comes along. Because if a good-guy programmer can find the chinks in the iPhone's armor, then what will the bad guys find? And how can you prevent yourself from future infection?

First, lets start with what Charlie did. Through research, he learned that if there is a malformed SMS message, the iPhone becomes confused. And while in this confused state, the iPhone handles the data inside the message differently, thus making itself vulnerable to the possibility of remote hijackings. The data on your phone is also vulnerable. In theory, you could go to your banks website on the iPhone browser and the hacker could see you enter all your vitals, including passwords. They could see the data in your applications and, essentially, gain control of the phone.

If a bad guy were to write such code or something similar, millions of iPhones would be at risk (this also includes Android phones and those operating with Windows Mobile too). This gaping hole in the armor could use the remote command to install malware on the iPhone, which could theoretically turn your camera on and start recording sound. Imagine all the ways a remote hijacker could use that tool. Pretty frightening stuff.

What to do? Right now it looks like there is nothing you can do but wait until Apple or one of the major security firms comes up with a patch or a protective shield that you could install. But what it comes down to is the fact that mobile devices such as iPhones are becoming increasingly important in the conduction of business. And the private information held within these mobile devices will become more and more at risk. We can only suggest that you to protect your iPhone. Stay abreast of potential threats and explore ways to protect yourself from the coming threats your iPhone's security.

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