A cell phone virus turned up at an electronics store in Santa Monica earlier this week. One of the phones in the store had been infected with "Cabir," a somewhat malicious piece of code that drains batteries and propagates itself via wireless connections. How does Cabir work?

It jumps from phone to phone using short-range networks. Many cell phones use the Bluetooth standard to link up with nearby devices without a cable. You can use Bluetooth to send photos to your printer, to update the address book on your laptop, or to use a wireless headset. And if you're within about 30 feet of someone's cell phone, you can also use Bluetooth to send a virus.

By Daniel Engber at Slate.

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