Virus found on handset for sale in California
Virus found on handset for sale in California
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Cabir mobile phone virus hits the US

Bluetooth hijacker spreading slowly but surely

Steve Ranger, vnunet.com 21 Feb 2005
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The Cabir mobile phone virus has finally spread as far at the US, and has been spotted on a handset for sale in a shop in California.

The virus, which is spread from handset to handset by Bluetooth, has spread slowly into 12 countries. It was spotted on a handset in a store in California last week, according to Mikko Hypponen, director of security company F-Secure, who told Reuters that the store owner's phone had also been infected.

Infected phones display the message 'Caribe' when turned on, and the worm then looks for other Bluetooth connected handsets nearby that will allow it to spread.

The biggest impact of the virus, which has around 15 variations so far, is that it drains mobile phone batteries. Cabir was discovered in the wild in August last year, and has spread gradually since then.

Earlier this month IBM predicted a surge in viruses targeting mobiles this year, as Cabir is used by copycat virus writers to create an epidemic.

Big Blue also warned that viruses would target embedded computers, including car and satellite communication systems.

See also:

CommWarrior not spreading as rapidly as it might, reports security firm  08 Mar 2005
Virus replicates via Multimedia Messaging Service'CommWarrior' virus spreads via MMS messages  07 Mar 2005
Strong demand in run up to Christmas 2004 boosts market  02 Mar 2005
Hacked smartphone raises concernsService providers not doing enough to protect data, says Gartner  01 Mar 2005
Orange is our colour, says Orange  24 Feb 2005
Lost mobile means lost friends for many usersA third of mobile users don't keep a separate record of important numbers  22 Feb 2005
SecurityThe latest wave of cyber-crimes and acts of vandalism have demonstrated once again that many systems are still vulnerable to attack.  15 Apr 2004

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