 Cellphone Viruses, Coming to a cellphone near you... |
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 Feb 16 2005, 09:35 PM
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#1
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sirhenry the bland  Group: Members Posts: 62 Joined: 14-December 04 From: A Location Formerly Known as Thingrend Member No.: 2,723  |
Cell phone and Blue Tooth viruses are just around the corner. It's a big and scary world out there...
QUOTE Cell phone viruses, largely considered a paper tiger in the digital security world, became a bit more dangerous this week with the release of a two-pronged program. Writers have released a virus, known as Lasco.A, that spreads both through wireless connections and by attaching itself to files, antivirus company F-Secure said Monday. Until now, malicious cell phone programs have spread using one mechanism or the other. "We have received a new Symbian malware that combines two spreading tactics, which is common in PC malware but previously unheard of in mobile systems," F-Secure said in a posting on its Web site. The Lasco.A virus will attach itself to any application file on a phone that uses the Symbian operating system, F-Secure said. It is activated when cell phone owners click on the file and install it on their handsets. "Thus any (application) file in the device that gets copied to another phone, as frequently happens as people swap software, will also contain a copy of Lasco.A," F-Secure said. The program also acts like a computer worm, attempting to copy itself directly to any phone within range using Bluetooth wireless technology, F-Secure said. That capability is similar to several recent worms--variants of the Cabir worm--that have managed to spread to a limited amount of phones in the wild. Such programs have not been very successful, however. Only recent cell phone operating systems are programmable to the extent that viruses can effectively spread. Moreover, the large number of proprietary operating systems used in cell phones make the development of broad threats much more difficult. As the new virus can only spread on cell phones that have Bluetooth in discoverable mode, the best way to protect handset systems is to set it to hidden Bluetooth mode, F-Secure has advised. Tell me your thoughts! (that was taken from this article) |
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Feb 16 2005, 09:36 PM
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#2
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Computer Nerd! Group: Members Posts: 157 Joined: 3-February 05 From: Georgia Member No.: 3,573 |
Sweeet
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Feb 16 2005, 11:11 PM
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#3
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{([Mod])} Group: Members Posts: 710 Joined: 30-October 04 From: Texas Member No.: 2,058 |
I'm glad I have an older phone, it doesn't have the capability of putting programs on it, or images, or anything like that. Anyone here get the virus? I wonder if they're going to make a virus dector program for phones.
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Feb 16 2005, 11:13 PM
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#4
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Super Moderator Group: Members Posts: 346 Joined: 8-February 05 Member No.: 3,660 |
wow...now that some scary stuff...thank god my phone doesnt have blue tooth on it... plus i dont really use any appilcations. is there any way to fight against it like a anti-virus?
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Feb 16 2005, 11:47 PM
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#5
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Privileged Member Group: Members Posts: 675 Joined: 11-September 04 Member No.: 1,079 |
yeh i can imagine this happening. Well since in the future almost all the phones will have internet on them and its a whole new issue.
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Feb 17 2005, 12:09 AM
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#6
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Super Member Group: Members Posts: 318 Joined: 5-January 05 Member No.: 3,136 |
Nothing serious... These viruses spread through a Bluetooth connection, and because Bluetooth uses allot of battery power, most users turn it off when it is not needed.
There are a few viruses that spread through phones (usually with a Symbian OS), they turn on Bluetooth on the infected phone, and when there is another Bluetooth user around, it sends him a .sis file (installation program for Symbian). If a user installs that file, it will infect that phone also, spread, and will eventually delete all system files on the phone, which will render it unusable. The only solution for this is to flash the phone (insert new software inside it, kind of like formatting a HDD and installing a new OS). In conclusion, there is nothing to fear about. Just don't accept .sis files over a Bluetooth connection from an unknown phone. BTW: Nokia is preparing an antivirus for phones, and it will become integrated by default in every Nokia Symbian phone from now on. |
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Feb 17 2005, 12:42 AM
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#7
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Super Member Group: Members Posts: 372 Joined: 14-October 04 Member No.: 1,736 |
It figures they'd have viruses for phones too! Good thing mine doesn't have that on it! It's weird how a cell phone can have a virus, when you think about it...I usually just associate viruses with humans and computers, not phones. At least they're going to have an antivirus program for the phones, because who knows how well the virus can spread (Seems to spread really well, if they're using that...blue tooth thing. Anyway, I don't know all that much about using that type of stuff with cell phones, but at least it can only come on that one type of file (At least I think it's just it...)
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Feb 17 2005, 01:01 AM
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#8
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Member [Level 1] Group: Members Posts: 56 Joined: 9-February 05 Member No.: 3,679 |
I have an old-ass phone, so the biggest problem I have to worry about is it spontaneously combusting.
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Feb 17 2005, 01:17 AM
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#9
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Newbie [Level 1] Group: Members Posts: 12 Joined: 13-February 05 Member No.: 3,741 |
This is realy old news the first one was coded in june of 2004 heres what symantiec put out about it.
QUOTE SymbOS.Cabir is a proof-of-concept worm that replicates on Series 60 phones. This worm repeatedly sends itself to the first Bluetooth-enabled device that it can find, regardless of the type of device. For example, even a Bluetooth-enabled printer will be attacked if it is within range. The worm spreads as a .SIS file, which is installed into the APPS directory. There is no payload, apart from the vastly shortened battery life caused by the constant scanning for Bluetooth-enabled devices. Also Known As: EPOC.Cabir, Worm.Symbian.Cabir.a [Kaspersky], Cabir [F-Secure], EPOC/Cabir.A [Computer Associates], Symb/Cabir-A [Sophos], EPOC_CABIR.A [Trend], Symbian/Cabir [McAfee] Type: Worm Infection Length: 15104 (caribe.sis), 11944 (caribe.app), 11498 (flo.mdl), 44 (caribe.rsc) Systems Affected: EPOC Systems Not Affected: DOS, Linux, Macintosh, Novell Netware, OS/2, UNIX, Windows 2000, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcen...epoc.cabir.html Also it was made by the virus writeing groop 29A. Yet one more quote. QUOTE (12)+vallez, the new 29A member, coded the very first virus infector for mobiles! You can see a29's home page at http://vx.netlux.org/29a also they have been the first in many outher virus's such as the first widnows 64 bit virus... Anyways... old news... 
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