The worms were designed to infect mobile phones running the Symbian
operating system.
Experts at Sophos, a world leader in IT security and control,
have welcomed news that Spanish authorities have arrested a man
suspected of writing and distributing a mobile phone virus.
According to a statement issued by Spanish police, a 28-year-old
man was arrested in Valencia following a seven month investigation.
The man, who has not been named, is accused of creating and
spreading over 20 different variants of the Cabir and Commwarrior
worms, which attempt to infect mobile phones running the Symbian
operating system.
Embedded inside the worms alleged to have been written by the
man are references to "Leslie", which is said to be the name of the
suspect's fiancee.
Spanish police claim that as many as 115,000 mobile phones may
have been struck by the malware.
"Cellphone viruses are not as common as the malware which
strikes Windows desktops on a regular basis, but it is just as
illegal in its intent. Viruses are not harmless pranks; they cause
real harm disrupting business and personal communications as well
as destroying and stealing sensitive data," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant for Sophos. "The computer crime authorities
around the globe are becoming more experienced at tracking down
hackers and virus writers, and malware authors should be asking
themselves whether it's really worth taking the risk."
In a Sophos survey conducted earlier this year, 81 percent of
business IT administrators expressed concern that malware and
spyware targeting mobile devices will become a significant threat
in the future. However, 64 percent also said they currently have no
solution in place to secure company smartphones and PDAs.*
* Source: Sophos online poll, 612 respondents,
November 2006 and 373 respondents, January 2007.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.