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First Mobile Phone Virus Discovered

Posted by michael on from the uh-oh dept.

CHaN_316 writes "News.com.au is running an article about the First Mobile Phone Virus Discovered. The virus 'called Cabir - appears to have been developed by an international group specialising in creating viruses which try to show "that no technology is reliable and safe from their attacks"... until now it has had no harmful effect.' Cabir infects the Symbian operating system, and spreads via bluetooth. Great... lets see when we can download the world's first mobile phone anti-virus!"

27 of 240 comments (clear)

  1. Ring!...Ring!.... by Doc+Squidly · · Score: 5, Funny

    Go ahead, answer it. I dare you!

    --
    I think I think, therefore I think I am.
    1. Re:Ring!...Ring!.... by maxbang · · Score: 5, Funny

      Slashdot, hello. Yes he is, hold on. CmdrTaco, it's for you. It's God. He says we should have girls at Slashdot.

      --
      I also reply below your current threshold.
  2. dupe... by Azathoth!EDC · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... dupe dupe. dupe of url, url, url.

    1. Re:dupe... by maxbang · · Score: 4, Funny

      Hey, go easy on the editors - it's not their fault. Michael obviously has a Nokia Series-60 phone which has been infected. It's a variant and posts duplicate story submissions to slashdot. I've already tried to alert Sophos. They spat in my face and called me a liar.

      --
      I also reply below your current threshold.
    2. Re:dupe... by bee-yotch · · Score: 4, Funny

      No No, see, this time it's a "virus" last time it was a "worm". So in about 9 hours time we should see the first cellphone "trojan". ;-)

    3. Re:dupe... by TheFlyingGoat · · Score: 4, Funny

      More info here.

      --
      You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. --Winston Churchill
    4. Re:dupe... by SphericalCrusher · · Score: 4, Funny

      Oh God. I hope we don't start seeing little script kiddie programs on our cellphones now. The day that some little skiddie attacks my phone with his little Sub7 trojan... I'm going to bash his skull in with a detached payphone.

      --
      "Instant gratification takes too long." - Carrie Fisher
  3. say it with me now... by mekkab · · Score: 4, Funny

    I for one welcome our viral cellular overlords.

    {ring ring}
    You've been haxx0red!

    --
    In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
    1. Re:say it with me now... by xsupergr0verx · · Score: 5, Funny

      The new Verizon commercials show it:

      Guy with glasses: "C4N j00 h4> m3 n0\/\/? g00d, WTF!!!1111

      --

      Click here for a free picture of an iPod!
  4. I can see it now by fiannaFailMan · · Score: 4, Funny

    Here it comes, SMS spam offering downloadable anti-virus software!

    --
    Drill baby drill - on Mars
  5. spreads via bluetooth huh.... by mobiux · · Score: 4, Funny

    So I just need to stay 15 feet away from everyone and I should be fine.

    Kinda like a real virus.

  6. Nokia 3410 anyone? by The+One+KEA · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is why I love my Nokia 3410. It's too simple to get easily hacked.

    Sometimes progress is not an advantage.

    --
    SCREW THE ADS! http://adblock.mozdev.org/ Proud user of teh Fox of Fire - Registered Linux User #289618
  7. maybe... by chachob · · Score: 5, Funny

    this virus has an unknown effect:
    it submits stories to /. over and over! ;)

  8. For the love of god check the front page by Tuvai · · Score: 4, Informative

    Because embarrassments like this only give ammunition to the trolls.

    1. Re:For the love of god check the front page by Isldeur · · Score: 5, Insightful


      You really have to wonder when the editors of slashdot consistently show that they themselves don't read slashdot. Don't you?

  9. Waitaminnut-- by American+AC+in+Paris · · Score: 4, Funny
    This is no dupe--this is the Slashdot.Editor.F work trying to propagate itself!

    Quick, close port 80!

    --

    Obliteracy: Words with explosions

  10. I don't get it... by Mz6 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This duplicate story gets accepted and posted, while my story about Akamai claiming they got attacked gets rejected... sigh...

    --
    Hmmm.
  11. why? oh why? WHY!? by teamhasnoi · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Is there enough time to put something in the "from the 'x' dept" underneath the title, but no time to look on the right or SCROLL DOWN! and see the original story?

    And this is after subscribers email Dupe! notices!

  12. Here's the dupe update by GillBates0 · · Score: 4, Funny
    Editors: feel free to copy/paste.

    Update: 06/15 15:15 GMT by M: You may remember we mentioned this earlier today.

    Helpfully yours
    *bow*

    --
    An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
  13. This goes along with a BBC story... by jd · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Apparently, in London, it has become quite fashionable for yuppies to pick up "hot dates" by messaging everyone in the area via Bluetooth. The technique (if spamming can be called a technique) goes under the name of Toothing.


    So... adding a little danger to the thrills of Unprotected Toothing...

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  14. Re:Could have been worse... by cynicalmoose · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Actually it's not that. The first cell phone virus would have happened ages ago if 90% of cell phones used the same architecture and OS. Whatever system you give that dominance, it will always have people exploiting it (or poor configuration thereof).

    --
    Exercise your right not to vote. thinkoutside.org
  15. Cell phone virus? by weeboo0104 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Not nearly as bad as the virus I got from that public pay phone!
    That shanker lasted a week!

    --
    It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. -Frederick Douglass
  16. Infect *this* by 14erCleaner · · Score: 4, Funny
    These "Cabir" guys claim they're trying to show that "no technology is reliable and safe from their attacks".

    I'll believe that when they infect my refrigerator. Oops, looks like they already got that week-old bottle of milk...darn...

    --
    Have you read my blog lately?
  17. I got an idea!!! by Hassman · · Score: 5, Funny
    How about everyone post that this is a dupe instead of just ignoring this story and moving on with your life! Could we do that a little bit? Cuz of the 100 messages below only 99 of them speak the obvious.

    I know, I know. It is confusing and complicated. I myself didn't believe this was a dupe until I read the 65th post saying it was. To be honest, even then I was a little skeptical. So to be sure I read the next 20 posts. Sure enough they all agreed with the other 65 people: The story is a dupe.

    But for some reason, I still wasn't 100% convinced. To be super sure, I took a strole down to my crime lab and ran a few tests. The results?

    The framerate on Quake 3 is better when using the Radeon 9800 Pro compared to using a Voodoo 2.

    I realized that these benchmark tests were getting me nowhere, so I quickly ran outside and stopped a few people on the street. After explaining the situation on slashdot, 3 people quickly walked away, 2 spit on me, and the last guy asked me for change so he could take the bus. I gave him 35 cents.

    At this point I started panicing, as time is running out. I ran back inside read and yesterday's penny-arcade. What an eye opener... it dawned on me: NO ONE FUCKING CARES IF THIS STORY IS A DUPE. JESUS CHRIST, LEAVE IT ALONE AND MOVE ONTO THE NEXT STORY.

    That is all.

    --
    -Mark
    Dovie'andi se tovya sagain.
  18. Bluetooth vulnerabilities by arfuni · · Score: 4, Informative

    Bluetooth being insecure isn't exactly news (or repeated news, for that matter). A lot of the first generation blue tooth phones had Bluetooth on by default. A friend of mine used to pull all sorts of malicious crap with a Nokia N-Gage. He would just sit in a busy mall hacking away at anyone who sits in the food court. If you have a blue tooth phone with no off setting get a replacement. ;)

  19. High scores by ThreeDayMonk · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Duplicate posts by editor, according to a quick unscientific search on Google (site:slashdot.org dupe "posted by $name"):

    timothy - 114
    michael - 104
    CmdrTaco - 80
    Hemos - 32
    CowboyNeal - 22
    pudge - 12

    --
    If your comment title says 'Re: Foo', I'm not likely to read it.
  20. It's a PHONE, dammit... by dpbsmith · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...why, oh, why, oh WHY does everything that ought to be a simple, functional device end up as a bloated mass of featuritis with a clunky user interface, a 250-page manual... and the ability to accept and automatically execute executable content?

    There is no rationale reason whatsoever why a cell phone needs to be susceptible to viruses.

    What next? Digital cameras that are capable of updating their firmware by photographing the screen of the vendor's website... that will be infested by virus code which somebody smuggles onto the Jumbotron screen at a football game?

    --

    "How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!