Antivirus software developer McAfee, a division of Santa Clara-based Network Associates, discovered the world's first wireless virus late Friday.

Though given a low risk assessment by McAfee researchers, the "PalmOS/Phage" virus is a destructive virus that infects PalmOS applications when executed. The virus was first discovered by McAfee AVERT researchers in a laboratory setting, and has not been found "in the wild."

"The good news is that there are absolutely no reports of infection associated with the Phage virus and we [also] consider it to be very low risk," says David Perry, Public Education Director for Cupertino-based Trend Micro, which also develops virus protection software. "This is another 'proof of concept' situation, meaning that it demonstrates that virus writers can indeed create viruses which replicate within the Palm OS. But like the vast majority of the viruses we discover, this one is unlikely to infect anyone's system, so there is no need for people to panic."

When PalmOS/Phage is executed, the screen is filled with a dark gray box, and the application is terminated. The virus then replicates itself to other PalmOS applications.

Immediate information and cure for this virus can be found online at both the McAfee and Trend Micro sites.