iPod contracts world's first iVirus

Woburn (MA) - The first virus designed exclusively at infecting the iPod has been discovered. Music fans shouldn’t worry, though. The only way to get it is to willfully download the malicious bug.

Kaspersky Lab created Podloso, a specially designed iPod virus, to show off a minor hole in the iPod platform. "Podloso is a typical proof of concept virus, which is created in order to demonstrate that it is possible to infect a specific platform," said Kaspersky.

In order for the virus to have an effect, the user must have an iPod with Linux installed. That accounts for less than 1% of all iPods, most of which run on Windows of Apple-based operating systems. It also cannot spread to other iPods on its own.

Podloso finds its way to the appropriate folders on the iPod and renders all songs and videos unplayable. Instead of playing back these files, the iPod will display an error message that reads, "You are infected with Oslo the first iPodLinux Virus."

It’s not the first time that an iPod vulnerability has been exposed. Last October, about 1% of video iPods were reported to be infected with RavMonE.exe, a Windows virus that affects all mass storage devices. RavMonE didn’t harm the iPod, but caused some computer problems when it was linked to a Windows PC.