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To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (939)	3/9/2005 10:39:51 AM
From: Rainy_Day_Woman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5290

cellphone viruses? don't these people have anything constructive to do? New CommWarrior virus infects cellphones Security experts are monitoring the spread of the first mobile phone virus that uses Mobile Messaging Service (MMS) to circulate among mobile phone users with Symbian Series 60 mobile phones. The virus, named CommWarrior, when opened places copies of itself on vulnerable mobile phones and uses the phone's address book to send copies of itself to the owner's contacts using MMS, IDG News Service reported. Antivirus experts believe CommWarrior, which has been spreading slowly among cell phone users since January, is not yet a serious threat. CommWarrior, however, could herald a new age of malicious and fast-spreading cell phone threats, antivirus experts said. The virus can replicate locally through Bluetooth wireless technology ? the means by which mobile viruses like Cabir and its variants have thus far been spreading, antivirus company F-Secure said in a statement Tuesday. Unlike Cabir, CommWarrior is capable of propagating via short text messages carrying sound, video or photos, meaning the virus has promise to attack many cellphone users. CommWarrior, in fact, has the potential to spread globally. "So far it has failed to do so and is replicating slowly - an anomaly being carefully investigated by the F-Secure Anti Virus Research Team," F-Secure said. "First indications suggest that the virus is Russian in origin." "The situation is not critical since we have not received a lot of reports from our customers," F-Secure?s Director for Mobile Operator Solutions, Antti Vihavainen said. "However, CommWarrior creates unwanted billing for the owners of infected phones by sending MMS messages without user interaction. The phones can be easily protected by using common sense. None of today's mobile viruses can install themselves without the user accepting the standard security warnings." MMS is a popular text messaging technology that is closely related to SMS (Short Message System), but allows mobile phone users to send multimedia content, such as sound files or photos, between MMS compliant mobile phones, the news service reported. The technology is popular, especially outside of the U.S. where phone users have widely adopted newer-generation cell phones that support multimedia features and MMS messaging. When victims open the attached virus file, CommWarrior is installed on the phone and begins randomly sending MMS messages with copies of itself to numbers in the phone book. Complicating matters, CommWarrior can also spread between phones using Bluetooth wireless connections, said Victor Kouznetsov, senior vice president of mobile solutions at McAfee, IDG News Service reported. Those who do get infected with CommWarrior can easily shut the virus down by pressing and holding the menu button on their cell phone, then selecting the CommWarrior from the list of applications that appears and pressing the "C," or "Clear" button, Kouznetsov said. Once the virus is disabled, mobile phone owners can use file management tools on the phone to locate and remove the virus files. McAfee and F-Secure both posted bulletins listing the folders where the CommWarrior virus is installed on infected phones. F-Secure is testing the sample of CommWarrior. However, the virus is difficult to test. Its ability to spread via wireless and MMS messages makes containment hard, Mikko Hypp? of F-Secure said, IDG News Service reported. Mobile phone viruses are a recent development, but could be a major threat in years to come, as mobile devices become more powerful, according to Hypp? and others.