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iPhone worm creator nabs app developer job

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Posted 26th November 2009 at 3:14pm by Jonathan Leggett

Rick Astley

The hacker behind the iPhone Rickrolling worm has landed a job with an Australian app developer, it has been revealed.

Ahsley Towns is the creator of the so-called Ikee worm that surfaced last month in Australia and changed the wallpapers of victims to a picture of unlamented 1980s popster Rick Astley.

However, despite incurring the wrath of security companies worldwide, the 21-year-old has today apparenly capitalized on his notoriety by bagging an app development job with Monogeration.

Mr Towns reportedly announced his new position at the company, which is behind the game MooShake, via his Twitter feed.

Commenting on developments, Craham Cluley of online security firm Sophos condemned the decision to hire the hacker as irresponsible.

He said: "I don't think virus writers shouldn't be allowed to rehabilitate and do something worthwhile with their lives.

"But it jars with me that Towns has shown no regret for what he did, and that now his utterly irresponsible behaviour appears to have been rewarded. “Will Towns be offering a token $5 compensation to all those he infected for the inconvenience he caused? I doubt it."

The largely harmless Ikee worm was the first ever to affect iPhones. Only jailbroken handsets were vulnerable.

More news on: Downloads, iPhone, iPhone 3GS

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