Fast moving phone viruses appear - GoFuckYourself.com

DVTimes · 12-30-2004, 03:21 PM

Security firms are warning about several mobile phone viruses that can spread much faster than similar bugs.
The new strains of the Cabir mobile phone virus use short-range radio technology to leap to any vulnerable phone as soon as it is in range.

The Cabir virus only affects high-end handsets running the Symbian Series 60 phone operating system.

Despite the warnings, there are so far no reports of any phones being infected by the new variants of Cabir.

New versions

The original Cabir worm came to light in mid-June 2004 when it was sent to anti-virus firms as a proof-of-concept program.

A mistake in the way the original Cabir was written meant that even if it escaped from the laboratory, the bug would only have been able to infect one phone at a time.

However, the new Cabir strains have this mistake corrected and will spread via short range Bluetooth technology to any vulnerable phone in range. Bluetooth has an effective range of a few tens of metres.

The risk of being infected by Cabir is low because users must give the malicious program permission to download on to their handset and then must manually install it.

Users can protect themselves by altering a setting on Symbian phones that conceals the handset from other Bluetooth using devices.

Finnish security firm F-Secure issued a warning about the new strains of Cabir but said that the viruses do not do any damage to a phone. All they do is block normal Bluetooth activity and drain the phone's battery.

Anti-virus firm Sophos said the source code for Cabir had been posted on the net by a Brazilian programmer which might lead to even more variants of the program being created.

So far seven versions of Cabir are know to exist, one of which was inside the malicious Skulls program that was found in late November.

Symbian's Series 60 software is licenced by Nokia, LG Electronics, Lenovo, Panasonic, Samsung, Sendo and Siemens.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4134389.stm

Rochard · 12-30-2004, 04:49 PM

Pretty soon everything in our house will be infected. Imagine waking up one morning to find your fridge got something via bluetooth and was told to shut down during the night.

colpanic · 12-30-2004, 05:47 PM

Just wait until someone tweaks it to send out an SMS to everyone in your phonebook to spread itself.

The API's are all there in Symbian, I'm shocked nobody did it already.

Alexander D Great · 12-31-2004, 07:31 AM

someone tried to send me the cabir virus 2 times, its agood thing that nokia asks you if you want to install... if not i would have got the virus no doubt!

12-30-2004, 03:21 PM	#1
DVTimes xxx Industry Role: Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: UK Posts: 31,547	Fast moving phone viruses appear Security firms are warning about several mobile phone viruses that can spread much faster than similar bugs. The new strains of the Cabir mobile phone virus use short-range radio technology to leap to any vulnerable phone as soon as it is in range. The Cabir virus only affects high-end handsets running the Symbian Series 60 phone operating system. Despite the warnings, there are so far no reports of any phones being infected by the new variants of Cabir. New versions The original Cabir worm came to light in mid-June 2004 when it was sent to anti-virus firms as a proof-of-concept program. A mistake in the way the original Cabir was written meant that even if it escaped from the laboratory, the bug would only have been able to infect one phone at a time. However, the new Cabir strains have this mistake corrected and will spread via short range Bluetooth technology to any vulnerable phone in range. Bluetooth has an effective range of a few tens of metres. The risk of being infected by Cabir is low because users must give the malicious program permission to download on to their handset and then must manually install it. Users can protect themselves by altering a setting on Symbian phones that conceals the handset from other Bluetooth using devices. Finnish security firm F-Secure issued a warning about the new strains of Cabir but said that the viruses do not do any damage to a phone. All they do is block normal Bluetooth activity and drain the phone's battery. Anti-virus firm Sophos said the source code for Cabir had been posted on the net by a Brazilian programmer which might lead to even more variants of the program being created. So far seven versions of Cabir are know to exist, one of which was inside the malicious Skulls program that was found in late November. Symbian's Series 60 software is licenced by Nokia, LG Electronics, Lenovo, Panasonic, Samsung, Sendo and Siemens. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4134389.stm __________________ The Affiliate Program

12-30-2004, 04:49 PM	#2
Rochard Jägermeister Test Pilot Industry Role: Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: NORCAL Posts: 74,019	Pretty soon everything in our house will be infected. Imagine waking up one morning to find your fridge got something via bluetooth and was told to shut down during the night. __________________ “The choice is no longer between right or left. The choice is between normal and crazy.” - Sarah Huckabee Sanders YNOT MAIL \| THE BEST ADULT MAILING SOLUTION

12-30-2004, 05:47 PM	#3
colpanic Confirmed User Join Date: May 2004 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 1,007	Just wait until someone tweaks it to send out an SMS to everyone in your phonebook to spread itself. The API's are all there in Symbian, I'm shocked nobody did it already. __________________ I like ducks.

12-31-2004, 07:31 AM	#4
Alexander D Great Confirmed User Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 330	someone tried to send me the cabir virus 2 times, its agood thing that nokia asks you if you want to install... if not i would have got the virus no doubt! __________________ [email protected]