iOS 7 security bug 'allows anyone to make calls from locked iPhone'

Germany based Chaos Computer Club posted a video on YouTube purporting to show a hacker using it to unlock one of the new iPhones (Getty)

Hackers and thieves can call any number from a locked iPhone using Apple’s latest operating system, it has been claimed.

A newly discovered bug on Apple’s new operating system allows users to make international calls and calls to premium numbers. According to reports, those with access to a locked iPhone running iOS 7 should tap “Emergency” on the lock screen, which brings up an emergency calling screen.

Any number can then be dialled, and, after rapidly tapping the call button until the phone reverts to an empty screen with an Apple logo at the centre, the phone will make a call, it was reported.

It is the latest in a number of setbacks for Apple which is under heavy scrutiny by hackers after the new iPhone 5S with its fingerprint scanner went on sale last Friday.

Germany based Chaos Computer Club alleged its biometrics team had bypassed the new security feature using a latex "fake finger" slide made using an image taken from a glass surface.

It posted a video on YouTube purporting to show a hacker using it to unlock one of the new iPhones, which sells up to £709 for the top-end model. Apple has yet to comment on the allegations.