A new virus capable of attacking cellphones has emerged, data security firms said Tuesday, and they warned that such threats could become more prevalent as their creators target the growing number of high-end wireless devices.
F-Secure Corp., a Finnish software security firm, said the Commwarrior virus is the first one capable of spreading via multimedia messaging services, which contain photos, sound or video clips.
As of Tuesday, there had been no reports of actual attacks by the new virus, said U.S. software security company Symantec Corp.
Ero Carrera, an anti-virus researcher at F-Secure, said the potential for the Commwarrior virus to spread is big. In the past, viruses attacking cellphones have spread only through Bluetooth wireless connections, but the new threat is greater because it can also spread through messages.
“It's the first case of this nature,” Mr. Carrera said in an interview Tuesday. “It would be equivalent to e-mail in computers. If it were to start going around ... it actually has the potential of becoming really widespread.”
Commwarrior spreads via Bluetooth connections or through text messages that also include pictures, video or audio clips. It could affect cellphones that run on Symbian Series 60 operating software. The virus tries to transfer files to other Bluetooth-enabled devices. It also automatically sends messages to cellphones and e-mail addresses obtained in the infected phone's contact list, tempting recipients to download the attachment with subject lines such as 3DGame and Happy Birthday! The fallout for the cellphone user is a drained battery and a bill for the sent messages.
Oliver Friedrichs, a senior manager with Symantec's security response team, said in an interview the threat of similar viruses is growing. “We certainly are seeing a growing trend and an increasing number of threats targeting mobile devices and cellphones in particular,” he said. “At this point, we really consider these types of threats to be in their infancy.”
Consumers first learned last year that cellphones, like their computers, could fall victim to viruses. That's when a worm dubbed Cabir emerged, using Bluetooth wireless connections to spread. But even Cabir's impact has not been widespread, Mr. Friedrichs said. And so far the viruses have mainly affected business people who use top-of-the-line phones for their work. Both Symantec and F-Secure sell anti-virus software for wireless devices.
“Most of the threats that we've seen targeting cellphones have been fairly isolated, in that they're either proof-of-concept threats written by an individual to simply prove that something can be done, or they're seen in extremely isolated cases like in the case of Cabir,” Mr. Friedrichs said.
Still, wireless viruses could pose more of a problem for average consumers within a few years, Mr. Friedrichs predicts, as they buy cellphones with features that provide an entry point for virus attacks.
