Anti-virus companies have reported the first mobile
virus in the wild that uses the multi-media messaging service (MMS)
technology.
The CommWarrior virus is slowly infecting mobile phones that use
the Symbian operating system, with mobile phones from Nokia, the
brand leader that uses the systme, the common target.
MMS is used on both 2.5G and 3G networks to deliver multi-media
content such as ring-tones, photos, music and video clips.
As mobiles become more sophisticated to handle such
applications, they are becoming a greater target for
virus-writers.
Both F-Secure and McAfee have reported instances of the virus,
which is contained in a message attachment sent over mobile
networks.
Once installed, CommWarrior starts sending out other infected
MMS messages to users contained in the infected phone’s address
book.
Last year the Cabir mobile virus emerged but its infection rate
was curtailed because it could only be spread via Bluetooth
short-range wireless connectivity from one user to another.
CommWarrior can also spread via Bluetooth.
Once discovered, phone owners can use management tools on their
phones to remove CommWarrior.
F-Secure, which sells mobile anti-virus software, has developed
a signature to block the worm.