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Said criminals then remotely control the handset to spam the user's address book with links to pay-to-text phone numbers, essentially making quick cash at the victim's expense. Some links also lead to the virus itself, so folks who click through invite the malware onto their device.
As noted, over a million phones have been infected, but that's as of the first week of September, so the number of affected devices has undoubtedly grown since then. China's National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team Center is on the case, but around 10 similar viruses have recently appeared, making it difficult to track down the culprits.
This isn't the first time we've seen such attacks, and given the increasing popularity of smartphones, it surely won't be the last. In August, Kaspersky discovered a Trojan targeting Android phones that also disguised itself as harmless software and sent SMSs to premium rate numbers.
User Comments: 19
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It is a new era... of cell phone viruses! I can't imagine how slow cell phones are going to be with Anti-Virus programs preloaded.
I all seriousness, this is going to be a problem now and in the future, and counter measures, like Anti-Virus programs will emerge. Just like it did with PCs.
Does anyone know how the Chinese owners are getting the virus off their phones?
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thats it, im tired of all this damm nonsense, im going back to writing letters, who's with me?!
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@UT66
I'm working on my reply to you. What's your address?
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....China's National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team Center....
Really? Did they have to pick such a long winded name?
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princeton said:
Chazz said:....China's National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team Center....Really? Did they have to pick such a long winded name?
Aww cmon man. It just rolls off your tongue.
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I wouldn't be surprised if the Telecoms themselves were the culprit.
This virus helps business. Telecom = Business.
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Recipe7 said:
I have gotten a virus on my cellphone before, it is excruciatingly annoying. Thankfully there is a format button, and a way to save your contacts before you wipe the whole thing. It's not as bad as a virus for a computer, at least.
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I'm still stuck with my Motorola V9 "dumb phone". I'm considering getting one of those new Android phones though. LG is having 50% introductory sale on one of their mid-range phones.
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The mobile platform is no longer safe. There are trojans roaming around the eco system and causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.
Mobile viruses are more dangerous than PC viruses because not every computer is connected to credit card accounts, but every cell phone is (in some way). So, mobile viruses have the ability to cause more costly damage across the board.
I think that Antivirus companies are going to start an aggressive campaign to sell mobile AV software, and rightly so.
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Chinese cellphones? most likely unknown 'China' cellphone to me... I've seen many fake blackberry & Iphone before
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AnonymousSurfer said:
Great... I guess norton and all of those softwares need to extend out to cell phones...
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hmm seems like viruses has gone mobile too. considering the amount of cellphone users, this is something really bad.. it would be a drag to have to load a antivirus just to use your phone. it would make the device really slow and inefficient. in the near future im expecting virus protection plans coming with the phone packages. ughh. expenses
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fritz123 said:
hmm seems like viruses has gone mobile too. considering the amount of cellphone users, this is something really bad.. it would be a drag to have to load a antivirus just to use your phone. it would make the device really slow and inefficient. in the near future im expecting virus protection plans coming with the phone packages. ughh. expenses
Yup! This will bring preloaded bloat on phones to a whole new level XD
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treetops said:
They need to limit automatic spending from simply clicking.... you should have to enter a password and username every time you make any sort of purchase on a phone.
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Puiu said:
it's not like they didn't expect this to happen. antivirus protection for smartphones is still way too underdeveloped. we need a good antivirus that is small, fast, efficient and doesn't kill the battery.
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Recipe7 said:
I have gotten a virus on my cellphone before, it is excruciatingly annoying. Thankfully there is a format button, and a way to save your contacts before you wipe the whole thing. It's not as bad as a virus for a computer, at least.
It's worse than a pc virus. I can reinstall my windows and I won't lose anything important but a cellphone virus would really screw things for me.
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There are already several security programs available for mobile phones:
F-Secure (Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile) http://www.f-secure.com/en_EMEA/products/mobile/mobile-secur
ty/ESET: (Symbian and Windows Mobile) http://www.eset.com/home/mobile-antivirus
Kaspersky: (Symbian and Windows Mobile) http://www.kaspersky.com/kaspersky_mobile_security
Hope this helps...
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Chazz said:....China's National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team Center....
Really? Did they have to pick such a long winded name?
It probably sounds a lot better in Chinese.
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Thatīs a revenge for all those fake phones made in there...
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