Security vendor Kaspersky Labs announced it has detected the first virus designed to infect iPod portable media players.

The virus, which has been named Podloso, is a proof of concept program which does not pose a real threat.

The virus is a file which can be launched and run on an iPod, the company said in a statement, published on its web site.

In order for the virus to function, Linux has to be installed on the iPod. If the virus is installed on the iPod by the user, the virus then installs itself to the folder which contains program demo versions. Podloso cannot be launched automatically without user involvement.

Once launched, the virus scans the device's hard disk and infects all executable .elf format files. Any attempt to launch these files will cause the virus to display a message on the screen which says "You are infected with Oslo the first iPodLinux Virus".

The company stressed that Podloso is a typical proof of concept virus, which is created in order to demonstrate that it is possible to infect a specific platform.

It does not have a malicious payload and is unable to spread on its own: a user has to save the virus to the iPod for the device to become infected.

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