Security experts have identified a new worm which is redirecting iPhone users from a legitimate banking website to a fake website potentially run by cybercriminals.
The worm has been identified by security experts at F-Secure, and appears to be predominantly affecting Dutch iPhone users attempting to log on to their ING bank accounts on the device.
Users visiting the legitimate home page of the bank are unwittingly redirected to an imitation site by the worm, leaving them vulnerable to cybercriminals, who could capture their username and password and use this information to commit fraud.
Only "jailbroken" iPhones – a hack that allows the device to run software and services not approved by Apple – are affected by the worm.
Security experts at F-Secure warned that the worm could effectively turn infected iPhones into a "botnet", a network of compromised computers at the mercy of hackers or cybercriminals that can be accessed and controlled without the permission of the user. The worm can be transferred from one jailbroken iPhone to another if they are using the same wireless internet connection or hot spot.
The discovery of the latest worm comes just weeks after the first ever iPhone worm was discovered. That worm, written by Ashley Towns, "rickrolled" the iPhone's owner by changing the phone's wallpaper to show a picture of pop singer Rick Astley and displaying the message "ikee is never going to give you up".
Mikko Hypponen, a research director at F-Secure, said the newest worm was the first malicious virus for the iPhone. "There's a clear financial motive behind it," he told the BBC. "It's fairly isolated and specific to the Netherlands, but it is capable of spreading."