A new virus capable of attacking cell phones has emerged, and experts are warning that this type of virus could become more prevalent over time. This virus is the first virus that is capable of spreading using simple multimedia messages as well as Bluetooth. There have been no reports of attacks by the virus just yet according to Symantec Corp. Past viruses that targeted mobile phones spread through Bluetooth enabled devices, so their potential to spread was not very high.
"It's the first case of this nature," Ero Carrera, an anti-virus researcher at F-Secure, said in an interview Tuesday. "It would be equivalent to e-mail in computers. If it were to start going around, it actually has the potential of becoming really widespread." It could affect cell phones that run on Symbian Series 60 operating software. It sends messages to other mobile phone numbers and email addresses found in the users contact list.
The virus tempts recipients to download attachments that have messages like Happy Birthday. The biggest problem for someone with an infected phone is that they are charged for the messages the virus sends and also their battery is drained quickly. "We certainly are seeing a growing trend and an increasing number of threats targeting mobile devices and cell phones in particular," Oliver Friedrichs, a senior manager with Symantec's security response team said. "At this point, we really consider these types of threats to be in their infancy."
Source:
GlobeAndMail.com
The virus tempts recipients to download attachments that have messages like Happy Birthday. The biggest problem for someone with an infected phone is that they are charged for the messages the virus sends and also their battery is drained quickly. "We certainly are seeing a growing trend and an increasing number of threats targeting mobile devices and cell phones in particular," Oliver Friedrichs, a senior manager with Symantec's security response team said. "At this point, we really consider these types of threats to be in their infancy."
Source:
GlobeAndMail.com
