Detected: First Virus in IPODS

Hackers and virus creators have finally infected the Apple iPod - albeit very marginally since it affects only iPods with the Linux operating system
(about 0.01% of all iPods).

Kasperksy Lab calls it the 'Podloso' while security major F-secure has named the virus 'Oslo.zip'. According to a report by Kaspersky Lab, the user has to save the virus to the iPod memory for the device to become infected.

iPod Linux is a CLinux-based software distribution targeted specifically to run on Apple iPods, and it enables users to run a variety of third party software such as games. With 70 million pieces the world over, the iPod is the most used music gadget. This virus, however, does not infect iPods that run the default iPod operating system.

According to the test carried by Kaspersky, once launched, the virus scans the device's hard disk and infects all executable .elf format files. Any attempt to launch these files will cause the virus to display a message on the screen which says "You are infected with Oslo the first iPodLinux Virus".

Podloso working only on iPods running Linux implies that almost 99.9 per cent of all iPods which run Windows or Apple operating systems are spared. Technically, however, it's not even the first virus to be targeted at iPods. Last October, Apple announced that less then 1 per cent of video iPods released after September 12 carried a Windows virus. The RavMonE.exe virus spreads via mass storage devises and affected Windows computers -- not the infected ipods.