A virus designed to demonstrate security holes in
Microsoft's Windows CE operating system, but not cause damage has
been identified by security companies.
The WinCE4.Duts.A virus (sometimes known as Dust) only affects
devices running ARM processors and infects Pocket PC PE files in
the root directory, according to Bucharest-based Softwin.
It raises a dialogue box which asks "Dear User, am I allowed to
spread?" If the user agrees, the virus appends itself to all .EXE
files not already infected in the current directory, according to
anti-virus supplier Symantec. The virus contains no payload,
Symantec said.
The virus was sent to anti-virus suppliers rather than being
distributed in the wild and was not designed to propagate on a
massive scale, but rather to demonstrate that devices running
Microsoft Windows CE can be infected by malicious code, according
to Viorel Canja, head of Softwin's BitDefender Labs unit.
More than 17 million pocket PCs, smartphones, and other internet
appliances currently using the Windows CE operating system,
according to Softwin.
David Legard writes for IDG News Service