First Cellular Virus
Posted by Matthew on Sunday June 20, 2004 @01:58AM
from the it-had-to-happen dept.
Hayden writes:
Security software developer Kaspersky Labs has reported the world’s first cellular phone virus. An international group, calling themselves 29A, have claimed responsibility for the virus in an effort to show “that people will always exploit security holes for fame.”
The virus has been named Cabir and affects the Symbion operating system through the Bluetooth capabilities on many phones including the Nokia Series 60. Nokia could not be called for comment.
While said to be largely benign, many groups fear that this potential to exploit cellular phones might lead to an increases of unauthorized Subscriber Trunk Dialing, otherwise known as STD calls. Others are concerned that Cabir will jump the species gap and inscribe the word ‘Caribe’ on human cells, though experts label it ‘unlikely’.