Security experts say they have detected the first mobile phone virus that
replicates via Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and Bluetooth could spread around
the world in a matter of minutes.
The malicious code, dubbed CommWarrior, moves through the Symbian Series
60 smartphone operating system and can spread via multimedia messages that
include an image, audio or video, according to security firm F-Secure, which added the code can be sent from one phone to another or to e-mail.
“Phone viruses so far have been spreading over Bluetooth, so they only
affect phones that are within a few meters. An MMS virus can potentially go
global in minutes, just like an e-mail worm,” F-Secure’s antivirus
laboratory warned on its Web site.
F-Secure is currently analyzing CommWarrior, which it believes
originated in Russia, because it contains Russian text that roughly
translates into “No to braindeads.”
The Symbian OS can be found in some phones made by Nokia, Siemens, Sony
Ericsson, Motorola and Panasonic. F-Secure estimates 20 million cell phones
use Symbian.
As previously reported by internetnews.com, the Symbian OS has been hit several times by viruses, most recently Cabir, which was not capable of spreading at such a fast rate.
