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First Destructive Mobile Phone Virus In The Wild

Posted by timothy on from the radio-silence dept.

gbjbaanb writes "eek! the BBC is reporting the first mobile phone virus that causes damage is out and about. The virus only works with the Symbian Series 60's OS (no, not the Smartphone) and spreads through an adapted copy of the legitimate Mosquitos game. Once installed, a hidden program sends SMS texts to premium rate numbers. That's not so bad, no doubt the premium rate numbers will be switched off soon but the worst is yet to come - "typically we see them in the wild then copycat ones come along soon after," said Sal Viveros, director of wireless security at McAfee."

2 of 265 comments (clear)

  1. Re:So? Dont get your software from P2P.... by Kenja · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    So your saying that my plain text SMTP mail client on my phone can execute complex scripts like outlook can? Must be an undocumented feature.

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
  2. Re:So? Dont get your software from P2P.... by Kenja · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    " Maybe some people feel this is justified, however, what would be your opinion if the "bomb" was defective and instead of punishing unauthorized users, punished everyone?"

    I think it was a dumb thing for them to have done. However it didn't effect everyone, only those who have no respect for the work and efforts of others. For some reason I just cant get worked up about that.

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"