McAfee sounds alarm for mobile viruses

By Steve Malone

Posted on 26 Apr 2005 at 10:21

Security company McAfee has warned of the growing danger posed by viruses and other malware appearing in mobile phones. It says that such mobile malware has gone beyond the 'proof of concept' and is now appearing in the wild with increasing frequency.

In its 'Avert' report, McAfee says that mobile viruses were now becoming 'a serious threat'. The report says there has been a dramatic increase particularly in Symbian borne viruses. As with Microsoft software on the desktop, Symbian may be no less intrinsically secure than alternatives, but its sheer dominance in the market place make it the number one target for hackers. McAfee notes that more and more viruses are appearing for Symbian. It says that in Q4 of 2004, its researchers found just five such viruses in the wild. It now claims that there are as many as 50 mobile malware threats in the wild.

The McAfee survey echoes a report made by SimWorks that specialises in tracking down and eliminating Symbian borne viruses. Last week the SimWorks went even further and reported that it had discovered 52 different Trojans and other malware for the Symbian operating system in a single day. SimWorks suggested that the viruses were produced either by one person or by a group working together.

SimWorks said that the Trojans appeared to be cracked versions of popular Symbian applications such as BitStorm, BugMe!, Cosmic Fighter, 3D Motoracer and SplashID. In addition to the installation files for the application itself, the files also include various versions of previously known viruses including old favourites such as Cabir and Locknut. Those Trojans target Symbian OS v6.1 or newer versions, such as used on the Nokia 3650, 6600 and 6630 platforms.

On a more positive note, none of the Trojans affect UIQ-based Symbian phones such as the Sony Ericsson P900/910 and Motorola A925/1000.

McAfee also warned of the growing menace of spam on mobile phones. It points out that as smaller and more powerful portable devices become more commonplace, then they will present an ever larger and more tempting target for the spammer and the hacker.