A cellphone virus that uses several techniques to spread is the most sophisticated 鈥渕obile malware鈥� yet, but experts say the risk of infection remains remarkably slim.
The malicious software, called Lasco.A, spreads via Bluetooth, a short range wireless networking technology, and can infect smartphones running the Symbian operating system. It arrives as an executable file called 鈥渧elasco.sis鈥� and, once installed, automatically attempts to send itself to other phones within Bluetooth range.
Analysis of the code shows Lasco.A is based on an earlier cellphone worm called Cabir.H. However, like many desktop computer viruses, the program not only spreads automatically, but also infects other .sis files on a host handset.
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Worms spread by simply replicating, while viruses spread by hiding themselves in a file. 鈥淭his is the first mobile virus to have multiple ways of spreading,鈥� says Mikko Hypp枚nen, chief research officer at Finnish anti-virus company F-Secure. 鈥淚 guess you could compare it to a Microsoft Windows virus.鈥�
Easy insertion
In theory users could infect other cellphones by sharing infected .sis files, such as games, between handsets. Although there have been no reports of phones being infected by Lasco.A outside of test laboratories, Hypp枚nen believes the program has a good chance of spreading.
This is partly because the program uses multiple tricks to proliferate but also because the author has created a Windows program that lets anyone insert Lasco.A into .sis files.
But programs like Lasco.A are still unlikely to cause a major outbreak, according to some experts. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fairly rudimentary,鈥� notes Graham Cluley, chief technologist at UK anti-virus firm Sophos. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not expecting anything.鈥�
Cluley points out that Lasco.A can only infect sophisticated phones in close range of one another 鈥� within 10 metres. He adds that users also have to agree to install the program for it to work. 鈥淭here are lots of barriers,鈥� he says.
Isolated cases
But there are isolated cases of cellphones being infected by mobile worms in the 鈥渨ild鈥� outside the laboratory. Russian anti-virus firm Kaspersky Labs revealed on Thursday that it has received reports of Cabir.A spreading in Russia.
Although just a few cellphones are thought to have been infected, Kaspersky advises preventative measures. These include configuring a phone so that it cannot automatically be discovered by other Bluetooth handsets and refusing suspicious files.
鈥淢obile phone infections are strikingly different from similar issues with regard to desktop computers so preventive measures must differ too,鈥� says Kaspersky Labs in a statement. 鈥淭he primary difference being that mobile phone infections usually occur in crowded public spaces where many people are using mobile phones simultaneously.鈥�
