The iPhone has been the target of many users who wanted to customize the way it looks and hackers who wanted to use the device on other wireless networks since it was released in June. However, Arbor Networks predicts the seriousness of attacks on the iPhone will increase in 2008.
According to Arbor’s Security and Engineering Response Team (ASERT) the attacks will likely to be in the form of drive by attacks — malware embedded into seemingly harmless information, images or other media that actually perform dangerous actions when rendered on the iPhone’s Web browser.
“With the scrutiny the iPhone has received since its launch earlier this year over network lock-in, ASERT believes that hackers will be enticed by the possibility of attacking Apple users and the opportunity to ‘be the first’ to hack a new platform,” the report said.
Apple has been involved in an ongoing battle with hackers for months. While the hacks have not been malicious, the process of unlocking the phone and allowing it to work with networks other than AT&T has caused Apple to react.
After hackers successfully unlocked the iPhone, Apple warned users that future updates might render those devices inoperable. Later that same week, Apple released an update that did, in fact, disable unlocked iPhones.