Mobile viruses and malware
Submitted by mobi on Tue, 2007-12-11 22:00It was only a matter of time before the unpleasantness of viruses migrated from the PC, from which a whole industry arose, to the mobile platform. Viruses, malware and other malicious code have cost companies and individuals billions of dollars in productivity and continue to do so.
The first recorded mobile 'virus' was actually an anti-piracy mechanism employed by a company called Ojam in their Mosquito game back in 2004. Its creator set out to punish those who had acquired the game illegally by making the program send out a text message at a premium rate. Ouch. A month after that, the Cabir virus, or trojan in this instance, was released which made use of a phone's bluetooth function to spread itself to other mobiles. It was actually quite harmless in that it didn't alter files.
In 2005 the Commwarrior virus targeted Nokia's series 60 phones specifically. Its modus operandi makes use of MMS to send itself to contacts in the address book and further replicating itself. I imagine it hardly strengthened any friendships and not to mention the huge phone bills.
Mobile phones run complex operating systems that are prone to attacks and yet there is surprisingly little in the way of protection available to users. Sure there is F-Secure, Symantec, McAfee, Trend Micro who have only in recent years developed anti-virus solutions for mobiles but I think the average mobile phone user is clueless as to how to protect their data on their gadgets and probably even unaware of any risk at all. There needs to be more awareness of this threat and should possibly be the responsibility of the service provider to enlighten its customers.
Of course some folks in the industry downplay the degree at which viruses have or are currently causing damage and they're correct to some extent. Right now these infections are targeted at specific operating systems. The real trouble is what is to come, what script kiddies and bored geeks are to unleash on us. I say it's better to be pro-active than reactive. F-secure reports that the amount of malware has grown 100% in 2007 alone. McAfee Research revealed that 83% of mobile operators have been by mobile device infections.
How can you protect your phone from malicious code? The first thing is to only activate your bluetooth connection when needed or, at least, stay in cloaked mode. Do not accept bluetooth requests from strangers, or even your friends for that matter if you have not been notified of what they're sending. They themselves could have a Commwarrior-like trojan that is sending itself to your device. Get more bluetooth hints and tips from Mobsec.
Tempting as it is to get 'free' games on the internet from shady websites, it's probably not such a good idea. Not only is it possibly illegal, the file could come bundled with nasty code, courtesy of free-love virus writers. It's best to get games, applications and the like from reputable services, i.e. ones that can be held accountable if their files do not functions as advertised.
Earlier this year a Spanish man suspected of writing a mobile phone virus was arrested. He is thought to have affected more than 100,000 devices. Let's hope more of these people are caught and charged.
