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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."
There's a large virus risk! Especially when you've got anti-virus software to sell.....
-thewldisntenuff
My MythTV HowTo
This is bull. If you stoped 1,000 people on the streat and asked them if cell phone viruses exist, 998 will laugh at you, 1 will say yes, and 1 will bable off in 1337 speak. While people has been able to make cell viruses, they aren't out there yet. Atleast not to my knowlage...
~ Mooga
It makes sense. It's the same reason that there aren't many Linux and Mac viruses, there isn't enough people to affect. When there is one uniform OS Smartphone and the people using them aren't limited to savvy business men.
PROFIT is the biggest catalyst for cell virii. National Do Not Call lists have limited several marketers from spamming cells with text & calls. THere are, however, many companies who it is not beneath to promote their product (ie, the numerous enlarge your penis/free prescription drugs/etc e-mails i get) through less than leagal means.
Maybe I should break out the tin foil hat, but perhaps it is the so called virus protection industry we really should be watching out for. With the cell phone market growing by the minute, this is one of the largest untapped markets for these companies. THink of the profits and markets they would reap if a few virii started attacking phones. Just look at the response the general populace has given simple virus protection software. This could mean add on packages for your cell, subscriptions for updates, and huge contracts with wireless service providers and manufactuers.
actually, i wish i would have thought of this first....
just my 2 cents.
Get one of those cinder block cell phones from the 70s. You'll never have to worry about viruses again.
The reason why my cell phone drops calls is not because of rampant viruses created by 30-year-old script kiddies living in their parents' basement? My cell phone provider lied to me!
Symantec is already under pressure from it's stock holders to diversify itself and expand upon the security market. They've taken in anti-spam and anti-spyware companies to beef up the privacy/security buisness, but with good, free competition thier unlikely to get where they would like to be. Buisness is good now, but no doubt the company is concerned about the future, with greater awarness of security from all ends.
I wonder if Symantec's recent statements are an act of true concern, or just an attempt to bolster sales in the exploding hand-held & mobile market?
I fear that it is too late to burn virii as the abomination it is. The thing with language is that it is defined not in books but by what people say.
~~~~~ BigLig2? You mean there's another one of me?
The solution to this problem is easy. Turn off your damn bluetooth. Some dumbasses (read: Paris Hilton) leave it on all the time, which means any idiot can come along and hack/infect your phone/PDA. If you just leave bluetooth off, except for when you need it, you will significantly decrease (if not illiminate alltogether) the threat, as well as increase your battery life.
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.
Just because it's a feature, doesn't mean you have to use it!
...Had this been an actual emergency, we would have fled in terror, and you would not have been informed.
"FYI, the plural of virus is viruses."
FYI it's not a big deal.
"Derp de derp."
This is a big red warning flag if anything. Overblow it if only to vastly improve mobile device wireless security, which at the moment is somewhere between not present and just asking for it.
And luckily, my phone is too crap to be compramised, woohoo!
Luck favors the prepared, darling.
At least that's the part I'm wondering about...
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
incorrect. language derives its meaning from mutual consent, and a few people saying "virii" will not change the fact that the currently accepted proper plural is "viruses".
"Cell Phone Virus Threat Overblown"
It's too bad this isn't fark.com so someone could have stuck an [obvious] tag in front of that headline...
This tagline is umop apisdn.
Ten years ago, viruses on PCs were uncommon. Now it's all we can do to keep a machine from being rooted in minutes. While the infrastructure of mobile companies is well NAT'd, the possibilities of people inadvertently getting snarfed is really high. There are five OS makers out there for mobiles, none of which do anything at all to warn users about possible hijacks, phishing schemes (how about emulating that Coke machine that someone wants to buy from?), viruses, and/or data theft (Hi Paris!) and other threats.
Where Symantec is invested in making us paranoid, why not act now, rather than patch phones until we're blue in the face, like we do with PCs? I really disliked Symantec's other seemingly bogus announcements about threats where they don't exist, but with mobile use approaching a billion users, it's just bound to happen and with widespread panic.
Imagine not wanting to use your mobile because you're worried about what might happen. Imagine getting popups, or very unexpected use from a hijack. Or having your authentication swiped then charged up the yang in the next few minutes. Sound like fun? It will happen. Or: just ignore it. It'll go away. Those bad people won't hurt you on your mobile.
---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
F-Secure tells, that you need to answer YES four time before you get infected. From F-secure's page: "So how come anybody ever gets infected by it if you have to click "Yes" so many times? Well, we've spoken to many people who've actually been infected, and they typically explain it like this: They got this weird message on the phone, requesting a "Yes" or "No" answer. So they clicked "No". But the message popped up immediatly again. And they clicked "No" - only to see the message pop up again. And since "No" didn't seem to be working, they clicked "Yes"... The message would have disappeared if they would have walked away from the area where they were (to get out of the range of the infected phone), but there's no way for an end user to know that." http://www.f-secure.fi/weblog/
The truth or interpretation..