Mobile viruses set to explode
By Angus Kidman, ZDNet Australia
01 November 2006 12:55 PM
While the current generation of viruses for mobile phones are
largely a theoretical problem, their rapid evolution means they
will pose a major threat in the future, security experts have
warned.
"What took 20 years to develop on the PC has taken about
two years on mobile devices," David Emm, senior technology
consultant for Kaspersky Lab, told a conference on business
continuity in London recently.
"We have seen fully functional backdoor Trojans written for mobile
devices. It's not the earth-shattering threat you might read about,
but the threat is real."
The first mobile virus is generally considered to be Cabir, a
proof-of-concept virus that spreads via Bluetooth and is designed
to infect Symbian OS mobile phones.
Many variants of Cabir have been developed following the release of
its source code, while other mobile viruses have been developed to
perform operations such as sending text messages to premium-rate
services, potentially creating a large phone bill and a lucrative
source of revenue.
Now, mobile viruses account for a relatively small proportion of
malware activity. Kaspersky currently identifies about 10
new mobile virus variants a week, which represents a tiny fraction
of the 1400 or so pieces of malware it analyses in that
period.
"The key here is going to be critical mass," Emm said.
As mobile phones become more capable and "smartphone" operating
systems become the norm, it will be worthwhile for criminals to
develop and modify mobile phone viruses, he predicted.
Earlier this month, Symbian CEO Nigel Clifford noted that
smartphones were outselling portable music players, meaning such a
situation is likely in the near future.
