iPhone and Android vulnerable

Researchers are warning of a new vulnerability which could leave the iPhone and other mobile phones open to attack.

Security researchers Charlie Miller and Colin Mulliner revealed the flaw during a presentation at the BlackHat conference in Las Vegas. The vulnerability was demonstrated for the iPhone, Android and Windows Mobile smartphones and, according to reports, can only be prevented by turning the handset off.

If exploited, the vulnerability could allow an attacker to take control of a handset and use the compromised device to send out additional spam messages or install malware.

Vulnerabilities and attacks for mobile phones has become a fast-growing branch of the security business in recent years. As vendors have worked to develop new security tools and protections for increasingly-complex smartphone devices, malware writers have sought out new ways to capitalize on the mobile phone sector.

Some of the most recent developments have included the development of a mobile botnet, causing researchers to warn that the mobile malware industry could be ready to make significant growth in the coming years.

Discovering flaws in Apple products is nothing new for Miller. The researcher won the last two instalments of the high-profile "Pwn to Own" contest at the CanSecWest security conference. Miller's most recent triumph involved taking control of a fully-patched MacOS X system running Safari in less than two minutes.