Security firms are claiming that the new Apple iOS for iPhone, iPad and iPod could be at risk for a security break.

Symantec says that remote attackers could exploit the weak point and take complete control of a device.

Currently, experts say the the problem only exists on paper, but Apple needs to fix the issue before it becomes a real problem.

Apple says that the company was aware of the report and are investigating the issue.

The problem is the way in which Apple's Mobile Safari handles Adobe Acrobat PDF documents.

A hacker could imbed malicious code into a file, and the browser automatically loads PDF files.

A computer security expert with Sophos, Graham Cluley, said that the security hole used the same principle as Jailbreakme, a utility allowing iPhone 4 owners to run non-Apple Approved applications, although it uses the exploit in a non-harmful way.

"It uses the same tricks as you do when jailbreaking," said Mr Cluley.

"We always thought that Apple's Mobile Safari would be the main vulnerability.

"At present, we have yet to see any of these exploits out in the wild, but it is only a matter of time," he warned.

Ironically, the only way of preventing the Mobile Safari from automatically opening PDF files is by jailbreakinf the phone and installing the app, called PDF loading Warner, that then asks for permission to open a PDF file in the future.

"I personally wouldn't want to jailbreak my phone to get the fix," said Mr Cluley.

He suggested that users may want to switch to an alternative broswer, like Opera, although, he stressed that they had not yet checked those apps for security problems.

"Right now, its all eyes on Apple who we hope are going to fix this problem as soon as possible.

"Historically, Apple have been slow to fix problems on their Mobile browser.

"This has been a concern of ours in the past and continues to be," he added.

In an ironic Twitter post, one of the Jailbreakme developers, who uses the name “comex” speculated, "how long until a fix is released?"

Apple has yet to release a patch that would either prevent Jailbreak from working or close the hole in security.