A Brazilian virus writer has unleashed a new mobile phone virus, called Lasco.A, that is capable of spreading both through the short-range wireless Bluetooth technology and by attaching itself to files, according to the Finnish antivirus company F-Secure.
"This is the first time we have come across a mobile phone virus that has two spreading mechanisms," Mikko Hypponen, director of antivirus research at F-Secure, said on Tuesday.
The virus affects mobile phones running the Symbian operating system with Nokia's Series 60 interface.
The Lasco.A virus will copy itself inside all SIS (Symbian Installation System) files, which are used to install applications, such as games, according to Hypponen. The virus is activated when users click on the SIS file and install it on their phones.
Users can catch the virus unknowingly by swapping files, such as games, among themselves, according to Hypponen. "They can swap files by beaming data to each other's handsets with Bluetooth and infrared or by using memory cards and even cables," he said.
The malware also acts like a worm by scanning Bluetooth-enabled phones in the vicinity and attempting to pass on the corrupt file to others, according to Hypponen. In this case, however, handset owners must often accept the file from unknown users.
Unlike the Skulls Trojan horse, which displays skulls on displays of infected phones, Lasco.A gives few signs that phones are infected. "Short battery life is probably the most evident indicator," Hypponen said. "The infected SIS files are larger but most users won't spot this. Prompting during installation is also different but, again, most users will think this is part of normal installation."
So far, Lasco.A is proof-of-concept virus only, according to Hypponen. "We have received no reports," he said. "However, we think this virus will end up in the wild because someone, eventually, will download it, and this virus has the potential to spread very quickly."
To protect their handsets, users should set them to hidden Bluetooth mode, and not discoverable mode, F-Secure recommends on its Web site: www.f-secure.com
Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. Discover the advantages of an open architecture multi-vendor network solution
Still Sneaking In: The Threats Your Security Tools Aren't Telling You About
Achieving the impossible: Unlimited application scalability
Radicati Market Quadrant 2008 on Corporate Web Security
BT saves more than £15 million and improves customer services with comprehensive Identity & Access Management
Simplify, Integrate and Safeguard Your Business with Secure Web Business Enablement
Simplify and Secure: Managing User Identities Throughout their Lifecycles
Refresh your AUP: Top tips to ensure your acceptable use policy is fit for purpose
Zones provide focussed content from Computerworld and leading technology partners.
Security Management
Protect your critical IT assets, achieve sustainable regulatory compliance, reduce IT administration costs and enable new business opportunities with our IT security solutions.
IT Security as a business enabler?
Download Whitepaper
|
Success Stories
Australian Unity minimises costs and maximises productivity with single sign-on for 1,400 users
Australian Unity needed to address its business and security risks including user management and application security management. The company chose an enterprise single sign-on (ESSO) solution and discovered increased employee productivity, reduced help desk costs and elevated data protection.
Download the full Success Story
BT saves more than £15 million and improves customer services with comprehensive Identity & Access Management
To enable future growth and ensure its services remain competitive, BT needed to build closer relationships with its customers and suppliers. Discover how the company is now performing over 36 million transactions a day with their improved Identity & Access Management Solution.
Download the full Success Story
Identity & Access Management
Simplify and Secure: Managing User Identities Throughout their Lifecycles
Organisations are constantly challenged to keep pace with ongoing changes to users and their roles, responsibilities and requirements. Discover how CA can help you create a unified approach for managing users identities, providing them with timely and appropriate access to applications and information.
Download Whitepaper
Simplify, Integrate and Safeguard Your Business with Secure Web Business Enablement
Modern organisations are required to aggressively expand the number and type of Web applications and services provided to customers, partners and employees. Discover how to automate, delegate and centralise your key processes and services including user administration, access policies, auditing and compliance by reading on.
Download Whitepaper
Simplify, Integrate and Secure: Providing Secure Access to Server-based Information and Resources Across Platforms
Distributed servers are a powerful asset in any company’s infrastructure. Over time, most organisations have acquired a variety of different platforms and are relying on them to house an increased amount of critical applications, processes and data. Read on to discover how you can achieve a consistently higher level of server access security across multiple platforms including virtual hosts and guest operating systems.
Download Whitepaper
Buying Guides
Buying Guides
