[virusinfo] First MMS-spread virus found in the wild
- From: "Mike" <mikebike@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: virusinfo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 10:14:35 -0800
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PRESS RELEASE
For release March 07, 2005
First MMS-spread virus found in the wild
The world's first MMS-spread mobile phone virus called Commwarrior, which
also attempts to replicate through Bluetooth wireless technology, has been
detected in the wild.
The threat of mobile phone viruses increased yesterday with the revelation
of a mobile phone virus called Commwarrior, which has the potential to
spread globally through MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service). In addition,
the virus can replicate locally through Bluetooth wireless technology -
the means by which mobile viruses like Cabir and its variants have thus
far been spreading. In this manner, it speeds up the draining of the
phone's battery.
The first indication of Commwarrior was made already in January in a Serbian
discussion forum warning of a virus spreading among Symbian Series 60
platform phones by randomly sending MMS messages automatically to an
infected phone's contacts list. MMS text messages can include an image,
audio or video elements. Commwarrior sends MMS messages from one
phone to another or to the phone owner's email contacts.
By so doing, the virus has the potential to spread globally. So far,
however, it has failed to do so and is replicating slowly - an anomaly
being carefully investigated by the F-Secure Anti Virus Research Team.
First indications suggest that the virus is Russian in origin, as it contains
text that says "OTMOP03KAM HET!"
which roughly translates as "No to braindeads".
Speaking about the new mobile threat, F-Secure's Director for Mobile
Operator
Solutions, Antti Vihavainen said: "The situation is not critical since we
have not received a lot of reports from our customers. However, CommWarrior
creates unwanted billing for the owners of infected phones by sending MMS
messages without user interaction," adding: "The phones can be easily
protected by using common sense. None of today's mobile viruses can install
themselves without the user accepting the standard security warnings."
F-Secure Mobile AntiVirus can already detect Commwarrior - an update which
was made within two hours of its detection. In the event that a user's
Symbian Series 60 phone is not running the F-Secure client, it is advisable
not to install unknown applications arriving in MMS messages and keep
Bluetooth in undiscoverable mode.
About F-Secure Corporation
F-Secure Corporation is the fastest growing publicly listed company globally
in the antivirus and intrusion prevention industry with more than 50%
revenue
growth in 2004. F-Secure services and software protect individuals and
businesses against computer viruses and other threats coming through the
Internet or mobile networks. Our award-winning solutions include antivirus
and desktop firewall with intrusion prevention, antispam and antispyware
solutions. Our key strength is our proven speed of response to new threats.
For businesses our solutions feature a centrally managed and well integrated
suite of solutions for workstations and servers alike. Focused partners
offer
security as a service for those companies that do not wish to build security
expertise in-house. Founded in 1988, F-Secure has been listed on the
Helsinki
Exchanges since 1999. We have our headquarters in Helsinki, Finland, and
offices in USA, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom and
Japan.
F-Secure is supported by a global ecosystem of service partners, value added
resellers and distributors in over 50 countries. F-Secure protection is also
available through mobile handset manufacturers such as Nokia and as a
service
through major Internet Service Providers, such as Deutsche Telekom, France
Telecom and Charter Communications. The latest real-time virus threat
scenario news are available at the F-Secure Antivirus Research Team weblog
at
http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/
For more information, please contact:
F-Secure Corporation
Antti Vihavainen, Director, Mobile Operator Solutions
Tel. +358 (0)9 2520 5357
Mobile +358 (0)40 523 3880
Email: antti.vihavainen@xxxxxxxxxxxx
www.f-secure.com
Mark Woods tel +358 9 2520 5461
Corporate Communicator fax +358 9 2520 5018
mobile +358 40 546 7753
F-Secure Corporation http://www.F-Secure.com
BE SURE.
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