BitDefender, which claims to develop and market the industry’s most effective line of international certified software, has issued warnings that a particular nasty Trojan is being downloaded by people in the mistaken belief that it is an application which will unlock their iPhone.

iPhone owners are receiving emails that contain a link which leads to a download which claims will open and run a new version of an iPhone unlocking application. And this application, falsely claims the hackers, will undo the vendor instigated network restrictions.

Those unfortunate enough to get taken in and click the link, are sent to a web page which then tells them how to download the malware laden application. And BitDefender has named the Trojan within the application as Trojan.BAT.AACL.

Mihai Andrei Livadaru, a BitDefender virus researcher, said:
“After being urged to connect their iPhone to a PC, the victims are then instructed to download the application and run it on the iPhone. However, once installed the executable file causes a Trojan virus to be infected in the PC.”

The Trojan.BAT.AACL is malware code that arrives as a Windows batch file which sits alongside the unlocking application for the iPhone.

Once the Trojan is downloaded, it begins its insidious work to change the preferred DNS server address on the violated computer. This might involve several possible connections and the server address is changed to 188.210.[REMOVED].

Once this has taken place, the user’s computer is effectively in the hands of the hackers. And once the server address has been changed, it means that the creator of the malware programme can literally monitor the users’ attempts to reach the websites in question, and rather than allowing them to connect, redirect them to other websites. These other websites of course will facilitate the insertion of other malware code, or allow the perpetrator to steal vital bits of information including username and passwords.

So, as always, beware of emails promising gifts – they mostly deliver a whole lot more and none of it fun.

If you receive an email with a nasty Trojan such as the fake iPhone unblocker you do not need to worry if you have your computer sufficiently protected with antivirus software. If your computer does not have an antivirus program installed, then you will continue to experience difficulties and are placing yourself in financial danger. This is because the hackers who have infected your system are trying to get hold of your personal information which could lead them to gaining access to your online banking account.

Guest Article by Neil Camp