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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."

4 of 265 comments (clear)

  1. bah... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "typically we see them in the wild then copycat ones come along soon after," said Sal Viveros, director of wireless security at McAfee."

    he means after they are done writing and releasing the viruses, of course.

    1. Re:bah... by Tongo · · Score: 5, Funny

      Here, you need it more than I do....
      **passes tinfoil hat***

  2. Wow! Where'd'ya find that? by wiredog · · Score: 5, Funny
    Is this something new?

    Maybe it's the leading edge of a whole, new category of consumer devices! The single purpose device that only does one thing, but does it well!

    --

    Best Slashdot Co
  3. Slashdot vs. Article by DynamicBits · · Score: 5, Funny

    Slashdot:
    "First Destructive Mobile Phone Virus In The Wild"
    "...a hidden program sends SMS texts to premium rate numbers."

    Article:
    "...text messages will still be sent, although not at premium rates."
    "Mosquito's Trojan does not do any other damage..."

    Does anyone verify that the slashdot article actually represents the real article?