Severe Apple virus infects thousands of iPhones worldwide, steals account data

Computer hackers have started using a computer virus to steal your account data.

The latest hack has infected 225,000 iPhones around the world and is said to be one of the biggest iPhone account thefts ever.

According Palo Alto Networks, the iPhone data theft has happened in 18 countries including Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and the United States.

This major attack uses malicious software called KeyRaider – a malware used to steal sensitive account information.

Victims who have infected devices have already seen fraudulent charges made to their accounts and unauthorized downloads from the Apple App Store. There have been reports that at least one user has had their phone password changed and their phone locked.

According to Palo Alto Networks, here are some of the things to look for to see if your phone is infected:

Stealing Apple account (user name and password) and device GUID
Stealing certificates and private keys used by Apple Push Notification Service
Preventing the infected device being unlocked by passcode or by iCloud service

According to Palo Alto, this is only affecting phones and devices that are jailbroken and appears to only exist on third-party jailbreak app stores such as Cydia.

If you’re worried about your account information, researchers have set up a step-by-step guide to find out if your mobile device has been infected.