Mobile virus

Mobile malware is malicious software that targets mobile phones or wireless-enabled Personal digital assistants (PDA), by causing the collapse of the system and loss or leakage of confidential information. As wireless phones and PDA networks have become more and more common and have grown in complexity, it has become increasingly difficult to ensure their safety and security against electronic attacks in the form of viruses or other malware.

Cell phone malware were initially demonstrated by Brazilian software engineer Marcos Velasco. He created a virus that could be used by anyone in order to educate the public of the threat.

The first known mobile virus, "Timofonica", originated in Spain and was identified by antivirus labs in Russia and Finland in June 2000. "Timofonica" sent SMS messages to GSM mobile phones that read (in Spanish) "Information for you: Telefónica is fooling you." These messages were sent through the Internet SMS gate of the MoviStar mobile operator.

In June 2004, it was discovered that a company called Ojam had engineered an anti-piracy Trojan virus in older versions of its mobile phone game, Mosquito. This virus sent SMS text messages to the company without the user's knowledge. Although this malware was removed from the game's more recent versions, it still exists in older, unlicensed versions, and these may still be distributed on file-sharing networks and free software download web sites.

In July 2004, computer hobbyists released a proof-of-concept mobile virus Cabir, that replicates and spreads itself on Bluetooth wireless networks and infects mobile phones running the Symbian OS.

In March 2005, it was reported that a computer worm called Commwarrior-A had been infecting Symbian series 60 mobile phones. This specific worm replicated itself through the phone's Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), sending copies of itself to other phone owners listed in the phone user's address book. Although the worm is not considered harmful, experts agree that it heralded a new age of electronic attacks on mobile phones.

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Wikipedia