Botnet viruses invade smartphones

New mobile viruses, disguised as “Free World Cup VOD” and other hot topics, were captured last week by NetQin. More than 500 complaint cases were reported and filed on June 23.

Identified as ShadowSrv.A, FC.Downsis.A, BIT.N and MapPlug.A, these viruses were embedded in mini mobile games to lure users to download. Once downloaded, the device will be controlled by the virus originator. The virus propagation model is the same as a computer botnet so the viruses are defined as botnet viruses.

According to NetQin, these viruses will either send messages to all the contacts of the address book directly, or send messages to the random phone numbers by connecting to the server; both of which result in extra charges to the user’s phone bill.

Furthermore, the viruses will delete the sent messages from a user’s Outbox and SMS log. The messages sent by viruses are themed the hottest topics, including Free World Cup VOD, and the most popular blind date TV show, etc. All messages contain URLs linked to malicious sites that users are unable to see until they’ve already clicked and fallen into the virus trap.

The targets of these botnets are mobile devices with S60 3rd and 5th OS. An estimated 100,000 mobile phones were impacted, according to NetQin.

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