Disqus
Fortinet, the IT and mobile security vendor, claims that a new worm is spreading on the (Series60) Symbian handsets.The worm is apparently being transmitted via MMS, with names like Beauty.jpg, Sex.mp3, or Love.rm – what a cunning set of names……not!
On installation, the worm apparently targets all the phone numbers in the contact list and MMSs them a SIS-version of the worm. In addition, it also sends itself to these numbers – so friends, foes, contacts, and colleagues – beware! The problem supposedly has only been seen in China with one Operator so far, but as we know, viruses spread quickly.
Most likely, this virus/worm represents a re-coding by a script-kiddie of an existing virus – my experience with Mobile AV taught me that variants (rather than discretely different viruses) are what is currently prevalent within Mobile – and unforunately for us S60 owners, S60 is the O/S of choice for attacks.
Whether any real discernable threat/spread will be felt in Europe is another question – certainly numbers of Tier 1 Operators have either implemented or are implementing deep-inspection of attachments at the MMSC level, to stop these sorts of incidents. Fortinet happens to be of the vendors that can do this, and they happen to do it very well – so we should be able to rest easy…..
[Via: Telecom Tiger]
About The Author
Ben Robinson
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas! He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to 'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device) isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question of why you continue to use it... His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.
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