News of the first generation of mobile worms for jailbroken iPhones broke last month, with the malicious wireless phone applications running the gamut from harmless prank to sophisticated identity theft. However, some security experts warn that unmodified iPhones may also be vulnerable to hacking attacks.

Swiss iPhone developer Nicolas Seriot said at a conference in Geneva last week that some subsystems of the iPhone’s default OS could be exploited by enterprising malware peddlers to provide a loophole through the device’s security and gain access to sensitive data. The malicious apps could be uploaded to Apple’s App Store and downloaded like any other wireless phone application.

Seriot says that the Storm 8 controversy – in which an iPhone game developer was accused of illegally harvesting personal data from iPhone users who downloaded its products – is a clear indication of the possibilities for would-be identity thieves and hackers of all stripes.

Mobile management specialists should be particularly on their guard especially in light of the small but growing number of iPhones being used for enterprise applications, say experts.

This entry was posted by Mobility Management News Desk on Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 8:36 pm and is filed under Managing Mobile Devices News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

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