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General discussion

Worms get mobile

Mar 15, 2004 1:48PM PST

As mobile phones have grown more sophisticated, many have become small computers, complete with operating system, making them potential targets for viruses. Mobile phone viruses could hijack a phone, forcing it to send e-mails, make phone calls, or eavesdrop on conversations. In 2001, a virus targeted subscribers of Japan's NTT DoCoMo, programming phones to dial the national emergency services number. In Spain, a worm called Timofonica caused infected phones to send spurious text messages to everyone in the phone's address book. Palm users reported a Trojan that deleted information from their palmtop computers. Many phones use the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), connected to the network at all times but charged only for the amount of data they transmit. Such phones could be vulnerable to viruses twenty-four hours a day. However, mobile phones currently use a variety of operating systems, slowing the spread of potential viruses. Experts expect a standard phone operating system to emerge within the next two years.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,8953577^15841^^nbv^,00.html

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