Do you carry a mobile phone? Then beware of 'Cabir.'
Cabir is the first ever computer virus that can infect mobile phones and has been discovered by the French arm of Kaspersky Labs, a Russian security software developer, says PandaSoftware.com.
Cabir can spread via cell phones and is the first malicious code with such ability. Anti-virus software developers, however, have yet to detect any harmful effects of the virus on cellphones.
Kaspersky Labs said that Cabir seems to have been developed by some global group that specialises in creating viruses to demonstrate that 'no technology is reliable and safe from their attacks.'
The developers of Cabir apparently have not designed the virus -- or worm -- to propagate on a massive scale, but to demonstrate that cell phones and PDAs can be infected by malicious code.
This malicious code spreads to devices that run under Symbian OS, which is used in many models of phones, including some manufactured by Nokia, Siemens and Sony Ericcson.
Cabir spreads in a file called 'Caribe.sis,' which installs itself automatically on the system when the user accepts the transmission. It displays a message on the screen with the text: 'Caribe' and then starts a continuous search for other devices to send itself to, although these must be connected via Bluetooth technology, says PandaSoftware.com.
Bluetooth's transmission range is 30 feet. The virus is only able to jump from phone to phone within that range. Also the phone must have the correct OS installed and the appropriate settings -- that is, it has to be set for a known number.
It is able to scan for phones that are also using the Bluetooth technology and is able to send a copy of itself to the first handset that it finds.
On the other hand, it is possible that the Caribe.sis file copies itself to other devices using Bluetooth, such as some printers.
According to the anti-virus software developer F-Secure, the discovery of Cabir is proof that the technologies are now available to create viruses for mobile phones and that they are now known to the writers of computer viruses.
Anti-virus experts have been warning for months that mobile phone viruses are set to multiply, given the increasingly diverse uses of mobile phones.