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Hacker tool steals your iPhone data

iPhone hackers just got nasty -- the latest scourge of jailbroken iPhones does more than rickroll you, it silently copies your personal data

Flora Graham
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The first iPhone worm, Ikee, was just a bit of fun -- unless you have an irrational fear of Rick Astley. But Intego, a Mac security company, reports that a new piece of malware for jailbroken iPhones nicks your personal data.

The iPhone hacker tool allows someone to connect to your phone and silently copy emails, contacts, text messages, calendars, photos, music files, videos and data recorded by any iPhone app. The tool doesn't install anything on the phone or leave any evidence your data has been copied.

The malware uses the same vulnerability as the Ikee worm, so for your phone to be at risk it must be jailbroken, with SSH installed, and still using the default password.

Like the Ikee worm, you can protect yourself by changing the root password -- so if you have SSH installed, get changing. Here are some step-by-step instructions on how to change the root password, courtesy of Cydia.

Meanwhile, an Australian ISP has published a chat with the Ikee worm's creator and namesake on its blog. Ikee reveals how to completely remove the worm, and shrugs off any criticism, saying, "I admit I probably pissed off a few people, but it was all in good fun... for me anyway."