Security news
Security news29 December 2004
New mobile malware and Symbian worm source code published online, Sophos reports
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| The worms attempt to infect mobile phones running the Symbian operating system. |
Sophos virus experts have advised users not to panic following the discovery of two new worms which are capable of infecting smartphones.
The Symb/Cabir-H and Symb/Cabir-I worms attempt to send themselves to Bluetooth-enabled devices found in the proximity of the infected mobile phone. The user of the receiving device has to accept the file and then manually install it in order to infect the phone.
A 32-year-old Brazilian programmer has published the source code for the viruses, and warned that other virus writers may use it to create their own variants. In a statement on his website, he claims to have written the worms from scratch because so many people had contacted him asking if he had the source code for the original Cabir worm.
"Publishing virus source code on the web is dangerous because it encourages others to create malware," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "Although viruses for mobile phones have to date been creating more hype than havoc, it's possible that more malicious people will now be investigating ways to infect cellphones. All users should be very careful about what applications they allow to install and run on their mobile device."
Sophos advises cell phone users that they can protect themselves against many types of Bluetooth threats by turning off the "visible to others" Bluetooth setting in their phones. This protects against being sent unwanted malicious programs.
