[IP] more on First mobile phone virus?
Begin forwarded message:
From: Romain Francoise <romain@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: June 18, 2004 12:24:07 PM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: First mobile phone virus?
Hi Dave,
About mobile phone security: Integralis issued a press release/advisory
warning users against Bluetooth identity theft; in a nutshell attackers
can exploit vulnerabilities in Bluetooth phones to send and receive SMS
messages illegally via the victim's phone, and use this to gain access
to Wifi hotspots that use SMS to send login info to the customers (you
send a message, you get a login to access the hotspot). Attackers thus
gain free and anonymous access to the Internet for whatever evil
purpose, and communications are charged on the victim's phone bill (and
of course, all mischief done on the Internet is done under the victim's
identity).
The attack takes 30 seconds to 2 minutes so you don't even have a chance
to notice that your phone is being used without your consent--the lesson
here is that you should never leave Bluetooth enabled by default,
especially in public places.
PR:
http://www.integralis.co.uk/about_us/press_releases/2004/150604SA.html
Cheers,
--
Romain Francoise <romain@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> | I used to think there is no
it's a miracle -- http://orebokech.com/ | future left at all.
David Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx> writes:
Begin forwarded message:
From: EEkid@xxxxxxx
Date: June 16, 2004 7:45:43 AM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: First mobile phone virus?
First mobile phone virus discovered
From correspondents in Paris
June 16, 2004
THE first ever computer virus that can infect mobile phones has been
discovered, anti-virus software developers said today, adding that up
until now it has had no harmful effect.
The French unit of the Russian security software developer Kaspersky
Labs said that that 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".
Cabir infects the Symbian operating system that is used in several
makes
of mobiles, notably the Nokia brand, and propagates through the new
bluetooth wireless technology that is in several new mobile phones.
If the virus succeeds in penetrating the phone, it writes the
inscription 'Caribe' on the screen and is then activated every time
that
the phone is turned on.
It is able to scan for phones that are also using the Bluetooth
technology and is able to send a copy of itself to the first handset
that it finds.
According to the anti-virus software developer F-Secure, the discovery
of Cabir is proof that the technologies are now available to create
viruses for mobile phones and that they are now known to the writers of
computer viruses.
Anti-virus experts have been warning for months that mobile phone
viruses are set to multipy, given the increasingly diverse uses of
mobile phones.
Agence France-Presse
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