Viruses, Trojans And Worms -- Unplugged?

An Anonymous Coward writes: "This two-part article at Wireless NewsFactor examines the risks of malicious code on wireless platforms and what companies can do to combat potential threats. The gist of it is that wireless viruses/worms/trojans are unlikely to spread unchecked, and it digs pretty deep into why that is the case."

Comments

Viruses, Trojans and Worms! Oh, my!

[TomatoMan]

Sorry, I really am. It's just that kind of day. (We won't waste a +1 on this one. :P)

Re:PDA's are even more vulnerable to attacks

[4n0nym0u53 C0w4rd]

Once you get something executing on a Palm platform it can really take over, but it's fairly hard to spread malicous code around on the palm. Most people only beam business cards, not executable applications.

The palm does present a fairly straightforward vulnerability to beamed viruses. Because you can beam applications as well as data, and the verification screen that the palm displays upon receipt of an item is generally just "okayed," there is a possibility for sending malicious apps.

I'm sure somebody could write an app or a hack that captured beam attempts and sent virus code instead of (or in addition to) the intended data. So, you try to beam a business card and a small application gets sent to the other person. The new application is named, lets say, "Preferences" or "Updater", the person runs it, and infects their own palm... etc. etc. (and imagine a trojan with a time delayed payload... a cool app with a feature set like vidigo could be all over the place before Bad Things happen...)

A lack of tech savvy users, coupled with frequent beaming is a potential danger. Not pretty...