Mobile Phone Virus found in US

The Cabir virus replicates itself using Bluetooth

The Cabir mobile phone virus, born in the Philippines, has reached the US according to experts. The most noticeable annoyance of the virus is that it drains batteries by constantly trying to send itself to other phones via the Bluetooth wireless protocol.

At the moment, the virus is not really a big danger. There are so many Mobile Phone Operating Systems that the virus can only affect a fraction of the phones in circulation. As standardization kicks in the mobile world, it will be easier for virus writers to target one dominant platform to get a maximum impact. Obviously, the more capable the phone is, and the easier it is to write a virus for it, so smartphones will be the first targets on the list.

Phone makers are not standing still. Some are already shipping phones with pre-installed anti-virus software. It’s likely that the situation will end be like the one in PC-space: a never ending arms race between virus makers and anti-virus vendors.

via Reuters