Virus attacks mobile phones

[The Sushi Bandit]

http://newsfromrussia.com/science/2004/06/15/54405.html

It has been announced today, that first ever computer virus that can infect mobile phones has been discovered. This announcement was made by the French unit of the Russian security software developer Kaspersky Labs. However, they added that up until now it has had no harmful effect, quotes news.com.au.

It appears that that virus appears to have been developed by an international group specialising in creating viruses which try to show "that no technology is reliable and safe from their attacks", reports allafrica.com.

Named Cabir, the worm infects mobile phones running the Symbian operating system, Kaspersky said in an alert. Cabir appears to be a so-called "proof of concept" worm, and Kaspersky says it hasn't detected any signs that the worm is spreading. Anyway, similarly to old-fashioned boot-sector viruses, Cabir will activate each time the phone is started, scan to nearby Bluetooth-enabled phones, and then transmit a copy of itself to the first phone it reaches.

[Wonk]

1. Hello 911, I've Got a Virus - wired.com

re: "first ever computer virus that can infect mobile phones..."

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Jun. 15, 2001

Internet-enabled phones in Japan have suddenly, seemingly spontaneously, begun calling the country's police and fire departments for emergency help.

The problem affects users of DoCoMo's i-mode service, an always-on Internet service delivered over special mobile phones that allows users to wirelessly access e-mail, websites and other Internet-based services.

DoCoMo issued a statement Wednesday confirming that 13,250,000 of the mobile phones that are used with the company's i-mode service are susceptible to a piece of nasty programming code, delivered by an e-mail that, when opened, can take over and control the phone's basic functions.

more...
http://www.wired.com/news/wireless/0,1382,44545,00.html

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About That Cell Phone 'Virus' 

Jun. 08, 2000

It's almost passé to debunk the import of viruses these days. But the wireless Timofonica worm –- which is ending up in more media accounts than it is in cell phones –- deserves some debunking anyway.

Here's the thing: So far, the wireless worm hasn't hurt anyone, hasn't "crashed" any cell phones, and hasn't cost businesses worldwide the usual estimated billions of dollars.

And contrary to the image of an invisible beast replicating itself inside a cell phone that is being bandied about the Internet, this worm is a run-of-the-mill text-based message that works by attaching itself to good, old-fashioned email messages.

more...
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,36843,00.html