20 Mar 2003
Bug in Siemens mobile phones not a virus, advises Sophos
A number of media organisations have published stories about a
bug in certain Siemens mobile phones which can cause the phones to
"freeze" upon receipt of certain text messages. Sophos experts
advise customers that this is not the same as a virus, and that a
patch is available for protection.
A bug found in the 35 and 45 series of Siemens phones can cause
the phones to stop working properly if a carefully constructed EMS
(enhanced messaging service) message is sent to the phone. EMS is a
technology that allows mobile phones to receive symbols (such as
love hearts) as well as traditional text messages.
According to Michael Stenberg, a Siemens spokesperson, the bug
allows a message to tell the mobile phone to try and display a
symbol which does not exist. The search for the non-existent symbol
then freezes the phone.
"This is quite different from a virus," said Graham Cluley,
senior technology consultant for Sophos Anti-Virus. "Unlike a virus
the text message cannot replicate itself, and has to be
deliberately sent to you by someone who knows what make of mobile
phone you own. It's pretty unlikely anyone will be hit by this, but
if they are all they need to do is briefly switch their mobile
phone off to reset it."
Siemens has published a software update on their website which
reportedly fixes the bug.
About Sophos
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.