More reports seem to confirm what we reported a few days ago: The world's first known mobile phone virus in several years, Cabir, was a "proof of concept" virus, though it still seems to mean that there could be more damaging such viruses to come in the not-too-distant future – and potential exploitation by spammers.
"This is a proof-of-concept worm," Panda Software chief technology officer Patrick Hinojosa confirmed to NewsFactor.com. "We won't see it spread very rapidly, because there are a number of physical limitations to keep it from mass replicating."
"We see this virus as a conceptual development," Olga Kobzareva, a spokeswoman for Kaspersky Labs – the Russian security firm which discovered Cabir a few days ago – told the London Guardian. "It does not represent a direct threat to telephone systems, but could spark the creation of a series of other really effective viruses."
"The way in which [Cabir] replicates itself will severely limit its spread, even if [the worm] was to be made public," said Symantec senior manager Kevin Hogan to the Financial Times.
But Pete Simpson of Clearswift, an Internet security company, told that paper that while Cabir's developers sent it with no destructive payload, the damage potential was very profound. "I think this is the start of something," he told the paper. "These people do release their source code and those less ethically inclined could use it maliciously. If spammers think they can exploit it to their advantage, it could become quite a nuisance."
Cabir activates the Bluetooth information transfer system once inside a cell phone and disguised as part of the unit's security software. Its writers designed it to hit top-line models of such brands as Nokia which use the Symbian operating system, according to Kaspersky.
The company also said the virus's main author, Vallez, is a computer expert with possible ties to the 29a international virus writing group, whose usual focus is proving certain concepts are possible and even workable. The world's first known cell phone virus, Timofonica, turned up in Spain in mid-2000, sending thousands of nasty e-mails to computer users and also capable of sending SMS messages to random phones by way of a Website, according to the Guardian.
The Financial Times said many cell phone makers have stressed since Cabir's discovery that their products are still very safe. Nokia vice president for sales and marketing Antti Vasara told the paper Cabir had not been found in any handsets, but that the company was taking the worm seriously enough. Vasara also said the worm found no security flaws in either the series 60 or the Symbian platform.
Sony Ericsson told FT their phones were unaffected but the industry was working on standards for smart phones, including the carrying of verification certification the handsets would recognize.
