But security experts worry that all the excitement surrounding Apple’s new device will work on hackers like a red cape to a bull. “The hype around the iPhone’s launch makes it almost certain that virus writers will attempt attacks, if only to impress their cybermates,” says Graham Cluley, consultant at the Web security firm Sophos.
So far most phones haven’t been smart enough to support truly destructive viruses, which generally require a broadband connection to the Internet and hefty memory. The popular BlackBerrys and Treos aren’t vulnerable because most are issued by companies whose IT departments impose strict limitations on what employees are allowed to download. The phone viruses in circulation these days—mostly variations on just two main worms, Cabir and Commwarrior—can function only on a handful of smart phones that run the Symbian operating system.
Both viruses require the phone user to accept the invading malware because the phones they target aren’t capable of doing so automatically. As a result, neither virus has reached even close to epidemic proportions, leading technology experts to label them “proof of concept” viruses, rather than genuine threats. The iPhone, however, operates more like a computer than any mainstream mobile device ever has. It has a Web browser that works like a PC’s and it supports advanced applications like iTunes.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs acknowledges the risk. “People are going to try and break in,” he said at iPhone’s London launch, “and it’s our job to try and stop them.” So far Apple isn’t saying how. David Perry, global director of security education for the Internet security firm Trend Micro, isn’t convinced there’s an easy fix. Next year, he predicts, the world will see its first serious viral epidemic in cell phones. It will most likely make its way onto iPhone’s Safari browser via the Web, and then compel the phone to call an expensive number repeatedly or download the same costly ringtone again and again—running up a massive bill. Such a scheme would fit in neatly with the newest trend among virus writers to go after not just notoriety— but hard cash.
