Cabir, the first ever mobile phone virus, has found its way into several phones in the United States. The virus, which affects Bluetooth phones, originally started in Philippines in a much simpler version, but has reached over 12 countries now, in 15 more deadly variants, including Cabir.H and Cabir.I.
According to reports, the virus was spotted at a technology gadget shop in Santa Monica in California. Two Nokia 6600 cell phones, which combine phone and computer functions like email, were in the shop’s display. A passing techie noticed the infection and alerted the shop owner’s who found that his own phone had also been affected.
The Cabir virus mainly targets three mobile operating systems - Symbian, Windows Mobile and a third used by NTT DoCoMo, a mobile phone operator in Japan. It then destroys files and data, dials calls top-rate numbers and emergency services, and drains the battery of the cell phone. Infected mobile phones then scan for other vulnerable phones using Bluetooth wireless connection and send a file that contains the worm to such phones. The latest variants of the virus – Cabir.H and Cabir.I – spread rapidly when new phones come into contact with each other.
According to F-Secure, a top computer anti-virus company, Cabir.H and Cabir.I have fixed a problem that dogged earlier versions of Cabir preventing them from spreading quickly between mobile phones.
A scramble to put up adequate blockades is already on with security becoming the high priority in the list of handset makers. The latest release of the Symbian operating system has been made keeping security in mind. While Microsoft has already increased its research into security, Japan’s DoCoMo has created an antivirus program for its subscribers. In addition, many handset makers have released models that come with inbuilt anti-virus software.
In November last year, another virus called ‘Skulls’ was sent to security firms as a ‘proof of concept’ to alert them of the virus writer's capability and the threat of mobile phone viruses. Industry experts feel that this episode may actually mark the beginning of the mobile phone virus era.
