Google today announced version 2.0 of Google Earth for the iPhone and iPod touch, just over a year after releasing the first edition of the application, a piece of software which quickly turned into the second most popular download in Apple's App Store. But the past year has also been a stormy one for both Google and Apple, as their respective wireless partners, Verizon Wireless and AT&T, start to duke things out in court.

Google Earth 2.0

First launched in October of last year, the first edition of Google Earth finds out your location either through GPS or by using Google's search function to narrow down your location. You can then use the iPhone's multi-touch gestures for an interactive experience, rotating the phone to switch to a horizon view or making two-fingered circles to spin the landscape around, for instance.

F-Secure and many others are reporting on the arrival of the first iPhone worm, spreading in the wild.

The worm, named "ikee" after its author, affects only "jailbroken" iPhines which have been modified to remove restrictions on what software can run on the device. Jailbreaking typically opens up access to certain processes including SSH, with a default root password ('Alpine' on the iPhone).

The worm changes your iPhone's wallpaper to a picture of Rick Astley ("Never Gonna Give You Up") and a message that "ikee is never gonna give you up".

To protect your jailbroken iPhone against infection change the root password. F-Secure has provided instructions here.

ikee appears to be following the lead of the hacker who recently started hacking jailbroken iPhones, locking them up and demanding payment for an unlock code.

Sophos' Graham Cluley is amazed at the reception given to the iPhone worm creator. Others have offered a mix of jobs and death threats.
In a recent on-line survey, Sophos (the anti-virus people) asked for readers' opinions on the merits of Ashley Towns, the author of the iPhone worm (or virus, if you prefer).

The poll asked, succinctly enough: "What do you think about the iPhone worm's author?"

The (completely unscientific) results, based on 721 votes, were intriguing:

He's done iPhone users a favour. This was an acceptable way to raise awareness of poor security. 547 votes.

He's acted recklessly by releasing the worm, the ends didn't justify the means. 69 votes.

I hope he's investigated by the cops - when he released that worm he broke the law. 105 votes.

What this is saying is that around 75% of visitors to a well-known anti-virus site (people who ought to know better) are essentially supporting Towns' actions.

Graham Cluley, writing in his blog comments, "Has the world gone completely bonkers? It's a depressing notion that most people think that doing harm and breaking computer crime laws is a good thing.