Mobile malware intrigues security researchers

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Mobile malware threats haven’t hit these shores yet, but they’re still capturing the attention of security researchers.

The so-called “Sexy View” worm hit Chinese Symbian-run phones last month. Despite it not yet spreading to Europe – and not really expected to make much impact even if it does – it’s been listed as one of Fortinet’s most significant security challenges of the past month.

And no wonder, as it’s really the first of its kind. The Yxes.A worm spreads over text messages, sending a link offering pictures of “naked girls” to everyone in your contact list, and could very well be the first step towards a mobile botnet, said Guillaume Lovet, head of the FortiGuard global security research team at Fortinet.

“It is not so often we get such an innovation in mobile malware,” he told [i]IT PRO[/a]. “Instead of sending itself, it sends a link to a copy of the worm,” taking advantage of the increasing number of smartphones in the hands of consumers.

Indeed, if a mobile botnet were to be created, it would offer an added benefit to cybercriminals above PC-based botnets, as smartphones have all the abilities of computers but also offer an integrated billing system. “Imagine the power of a botnet, but with systems for billing integrated into it,” Lovet said.

That said, Europe is yet to really be hit by the worm, as it’s largely been constrained to China, Lovet said, and it’s difficult to say when it will spread.

“Mobile malware predictions have not been wrong, but delayed – we’ve been talking about mobile botnets for two years,” Lovet said. “It’s difficult to say… theoretically, it would only take one infected Chinese user to have a European in their contact list.”

So far, it hasn’t happened yet, and Lovet noted that security firms have been working with mobile operators to block the worm.

Fortinet also said the Waledac trojan made a big showing last month, especially around Valentine’s Day.

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