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| The Skulls-B Trojan horse tries to infect Symbian smartphones. |
Sophos virus experts have advised customers not to panic, following media reports of a new version of the Skulls Trojan horse for Symbian smartphones.
The Troj/Skulls-B Trojan horse runs on the Symbian operating system, used by mobile phones such as the Nokia Series 60, and attempts to install a version of the Cabir virus which can spread to other phones via short range wireless Bluetooth communications.
However, Sophos has received no reports from customers affected by the Trojan horse and the threat appears to be very low.
"Viruses for mobile phones make the headlines because they're relatively new and sexy compared to the many threats attacking regular desktop PCs every day," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "The simple fact is that your chances of being hit by a mobile phone virus is minute compared to the many malicious Windows worms spreading via email and the internet. Don't let the hype about mobile malware distract you from the real menace."
The Skulls-B Trojan horse has reportedly been posted on websites containing shareware applications for Symbian phones as an ICONS.SIS installation file.
"Everyone should be security-conscious, and take care about running unknown or unsolicited code on their computer - whether it be on a phone, a PDA, a desktop or a file server," continued Cluley.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.