Coming soon - malware threats to iPhone 2.0?

Expect malware targeted at iPhone 3G users over the next six months, according to security vendor Trend Micro.

The company's report, released on Friday, on the security threat landscape for the first half of 2008, and in its outlook for the second half of the year, warned that "iPhone customers will likely suffer from mobile malware threats until security is improved".

Trend Micro said in the report, titled Trend Micro Threat Roundup and Forecast 1H 2008: "The release of Apple's new 3G iPhone will feature broadband capabilities and opportunities for multimedia application development. With the ability to easily and affordably surf the web on the new iPhone, more consumers will shop and bank online, encouraging malware writers to develop new ways to capture this information."

Anthony Ung, Trend Micro's enterprise product marketing manager for the Asia-Pacific region, told silicon.com sister site ZDNet Asia in a phone interview that users have to take a cautious approach as it is still early days for the iPhone 3G.

He said: "At this moment in time, we don't believe there is any security targeting anti-spam anti-spyware...on the iPhone," noting the contrast with other mobile platforms such as Microsoft Windows Mobile and Symbian.

Users, Ung advised, should follow basic practices such as surfing smart - visiting only websites that are familiar and trusted. They can also tap on secure proxy services or software-as-a-service providers but this option is usually geared at enterprises.

Ung also pointed out that Apple's software development kit (SDK) for the iPhone also poses "some very big unknowns", as malware writers can have access to the kit alongside legitimate ones.

Howard Schmidt, former advisor to the White House on cyber security, similarly noted in April that the availability of SDKs for mobile devices increases the likelihood of malware writers creating malicious code specifically for mobiles.

Earlier this month, a Mac OS X researcher also claimed that the iPhone operating system, which is a stripped-down version of Mac OS 10.5, does not have the patch updates that the desktop operating system has.

Original article: Mobile threats loom for iPhone 3G from ZDNet Asia