Cell Phone Viruses
For malicious computer hackers and virus
writers, the next frontier in mischief is the
mobile phone. A phone virus or a "Trojan Horse"
program might instruct your phone to do
"extraordinary things". It might call the White
House or the police with a bizarre hoax. It
might forward your personal address book to a
sleazy telemarketing firm.
Or it could simply eat into the phone's
operating software, shutting it down and erasing
your personal information. Similar nasty hijinks
have already dogged cell phone owners in Japan
and Europe.
If a malicious piece of code gets control of
your phone, it can do everything you can do. It
can call toll numbers. It can get your messages
and send them elsewhere. It can record your
passwords. As cellular phones morph into
computer-like "smartphones" able to surf the
Web, send e-mail and download software, they're
prone to the same tribulations that have waylaid
computers over the past decade.
Think of cell phones as just another set of
computers on the Internet. If they're connected
to the Internet they can be used to transmit
threats and attack targets, just as any computer
can. And yes, it's technically possible now ! In
Japan, deviant e-mail messages sent to cell
phones contained an Internet link that, when
clicked, caused phones to repeatedly dial the
national emergency number. The wireless carrier
halted all emergency calls until the bug was
removed.
In Europe, handsets short message service, or
SMS, has been used to randomly send pieces of
binary code that crashes phones, forcing the
user to detach the battery and reboot. A new,
more sinister version keeps crashing the phone
until the SMS message is deleted from the
carrier's server. In the United States,
relatively primitive cell phone technology keeps
users immune from such tricks, for now. Phone
hacking is nothing new. In the 1970s, so-called
"phone phreakers" made free phone calls -- and
even gained control of major phone trunk lines
-- by whistling certain tones into the receiver.
It is indeed possible to control the entire
network, and do anything an cellphone operator
can do. Now,
at least three software companies have released
personal security software for emerging
smartphones, girding for a new wave of phone
viruses and Captain Crunch-style tricks.
F-Secure is one such firm, selling antivirus and
encryption software for smartphone operating
systems made by Palm, Microsoft and the Symbian
platform common in Europe.
Thus far, there have been no publicized reports
of phone hacking or viruses, although viruses
have attacked handhelds running the Palm
operating system. Microsoft predicts deviant
code will soon emerge for handhelds running its
Pocket PC software. Both operating systems are
expected to be used increasingly in smartphones.
A virus is a piece of malevolent code that
self-replicates, while a Trojan horse does not
but can be just as destructive. The pranks in
Europe and Japan created virus-like havoc, but
did not propagate like a full-fledged virus. For
virus writers who crave notoriety by wreaking
maximum havoc, there are still too few
smartphones, and no widespread software platform
to attack.
That is starting to change. Until recently, cell
phone operating systems were "closed," unable to
download software. But new smartphones -- like
the Nokia Communicator, Handspring's Treo,
Motorola's Java Phone and Mitsubishi's
Trium-Mondo -- are open to such third-party
downloads. At the same time, software
developers' tools available for designers of
such programs as games and currency converters
can also be used to create malicious
applications.
It's possible for anyone to make custom software
for this platform. Teens can download
development tools and write their own software.
It's these third-party programs that worry
experts. If one is disguised as a Trojan horse,
an infected phone could make some calls on its
own. The website "virus.cyberspace.sk" posted a
bulletin exhorting readers to create phone
viruses. It stated, "We are starting Cell Phone
Virus Challenge. Any contribution welcomed.".
The page has since been taken down.
Soon, mobile phone owners will be obliged to
install security software like "personal
firewalls" that used to be reserved for Internet
servers. That's where things are going. It's the
same threat as the wired world: people posing as
you, stealing your identity or your personal
information, and using your information for
malicious purposes. Cell phone users can avoid
this, of course, by sticking with their old
"dumb" phones.
There are trade-offs. Do you want a phone with a
tiny monochrome screen where you can only make
phone calls? That's much more secure.
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