GLOBAL - Apple iPhone owners whom have jailbroken their iPhone units in order to use it further, are at risk from a new worm, more powerful than its predecessor.

The virus' damage occurs when it secretly takes control of users' internet connections, allowing hackers to manipulate it in order to conduct phishing attacks upon unsuspecting users. Reports suggest that users, when attempting to visit bank ING's website, have been redirected by the virus to a similar website, owned by the hackers, who would steal users' usernames and passwords; no credentials have been compromised as of now.

The malware, named Duh Worm, was detected in the Netherlands; experts have warned that it takes advantage of security features which are disabled when iPhone units are jailbroken.

Users have for long jailbroken their iPhone units in order to install many of the apps which do not display at the App Store because they are rejected by Apple; and also in order to unlock their devices from exclusive networks.

Continuous updates from Apple have patched security flaws, but many of these do not apply to jailbroken iPhone units, as these automatically disable the security features, leaving owners susceptible to attacks from hackers.