Cell Phone Virus Threat Overblown

An anonymous reader writes "Symantec has come under fire for claiming that 73 percent of smart phone users are aware of viruses and attacks aimed at their handsets. Wireless company WDSGlobal described this as a scaremongering tactic, with its spokesman saying: 'If you look at the viruses out there, currently there are about 14 core viruses, the majority of which are fairly benign. They are mostly developed as "proof of concept" to warn manufacturers of handsets and operating systems or the antivirus industry about potential vulnerabilities.' But Bruce Schneier, chief technology officer at Counterpane Internet Security, believes mobile viruses and attacks shouldn't be discounted altogether, though he believes they aren't currently registering on any significant scale."

Comments

SMS Spam is worse

[esconsult1]

While virii can be a little bit of a problem, I've never got any.

What I have gotten regularly though is spam text messages. On a HTML enabled phone (Treo), the messages are sophisticated enough so that you can click through on a URL to bring up your tiny browser.

Re:SMS Spam is worse

[Anonymous Coward]

FYI, the plural of virus is viruses.

Re:SMS Spam is worse

[Macka]

FYI it's not a big deal

It may not be for you, as you obviously don't care about language. But for others it is. And someone has to speak out about correct spelling and use of diction in this forum every now and then. Personally I welcome it.

Who are you to tell him his view isn't important? At least he had something intelligent to say.

Re:Easy solution to a big problem

[Anonymous Coward]

You're completely off....

Paris Hilton's information was stolen through T-Mobiles Website, NOT bluetooth.

The bluetooth security thing is a complete non-issue. So far the only "exploits" I've heard of require you to explicitly install an SIS installation file on your phone after receiving it. That assumes you are stupid enough to install something that just randomly came to your phone after being warned not to.

To those who will no doubt argue that they need their bluetooth headset:
Headsets/handsfree is meant to be used in situations where you need your hands. (driving, working...) Generally, you don't need your hands while in public places, so when in public places make sure you have bluetooth off and don't use your headset. Since public places are where you will most likely get infected, this is the best bet of safety.

Yes, I'm one of those people who use a Bluetooth headset. I'm not about to inconvience myself and use my cellphone without a headset just because of some boogyman virus fear that has yet to manifest itself.

Re:No way

[patio11]

"Smart cell phone" is an industry term of art for the newer phones-cum-PDAs which can, for example, execute non-factory-installed programs and download content off the Internet. Smart cell phone users are people who use smart cell phones (i.e. the ones with current top-line phones, or about 3.7% of the total installed base, at least in the American context), who are, as you might imagine, easily identifiable to survey. Distinguishing a smart phone from a regular phone is no more difficult than distinguishing a PDA from a calculator (the TI-92 is a calculator despite having text capabilities, the PalmPilot is a PDA despite having a built-in calculator, and if your phone is running, say, Symbian and has a stylus its "smart").

Why your comment got modded as Insightful rather than Funny is beyond me.

Re:Easy solution to a big problem

[patio11]

No moderation points so I'll parrot the AC information where people will actually be able to see it -- Paris' PDA didn't get hacked, she chose an insecure password and got it guessed. The information was then downloaded from T-Mobile's web-accessible interface. No need to compromise the device at all.