'Singer Worm' Hits iPhones

Wallpaper switched in first virus to hit popular phones
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 10, 2009 1:45 AM CST
'Singer Worm' Hits iPhones
Pop star Rick Astley waves from a Macy's Thanksgiving float in New York last year.   (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

The first virus to hit iPhones is substituting users' wallpaper with a portrait of 80's pop star Rick Astley and the warning: "Ikee is never going to give you up." The virus isn't harming anything else, but observers say it's a warning that hackers have learned how to hit the popular phones. So far the virus, known as ikee, has only been spotted in Australia and only in "jailbroken" phones in which users have removed built-in Apple blocks to outside software.

Officials have already tracked down the hacker, a 21-year-old Wollongong resident who said he came up with the idea out of boredom. Officials haven't yet indicated what charges he may face. The hacker's advice to iPhone users? Change your password—now. Singer Rick Astley's career enjoyed an Internet bounce last year when he was the subject of another "rickrolling" stunt that tricked Internet users into watching a video of his hit Never Gonna Give You Up.
(More hackers stories.)

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