(10 January 2008 7:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Security firms Symantec and F-Secure have confirmed the first Trojan malware of Apple's iPhone. As of now, no permanent damage to the iPhone has been reported, which means this Trojan is a very mild one.

ModMyifone.com, a forum identified the malicious code known as 'iPhone firmware 1.1.3 prep' or '113 prep.'

This Trojan targets the '/bin' folder in the iPhone and delete all of its contents. It also cripple some important packages by overwriting the encryption protocol.

According to Symantec, those who are affected by the Trojan should uninstall "113 prep" and then reinstall the broken applications.

Symantec researcher Orla Cox said, "This is technically the first Trojan horse seen for the iPhone; however, it does appear to be more of a prank than an actual threat. The impact of uninstalling the Trojan would appear to be an unintended side effect."

Reportedly, the site that distributed the iPhone malware has now been shut down. This means that iPhone users are unlikely to get infected in the future.