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More Mobile Malware Details From Kaspersky
Chris Crum
Staff Writer
2006-10-10
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
Kaspersky Lab has released the second half of a report on the evolution of mobile malware.
The first half, which was released last week, talked about the beginning with Cabir, and went into current types and families of mobile malware. It talked at length about a variety of different viruses.
Now with the second half of the report, Kaspersky gets into such topics as epidemics, where threats are born, and problems with operating systems. Let's take a look at how widespread mobile malware really is in the modern world. Users and journalists often complain that antivirus companies artificially inflate the danger of viruses, spreading hysteria. It's said that Cabir's chances of spreading are very low due to the fact that in order for the virus to be launched, the user has to confirm the action three times (in order to accept the file, launch the file, and install the worm). And Comwar couldn't spread widely, because MMS isn't in common use (the figure quoted is approximately 2% of mobile users overall). As for the danger of being infected by a vandal Trojan, for instance Skuller, most people don't even want to hear about this; after all, in order for such a virus to infect your handset, you would have to download it from the Internet, copy it to the telephone, and then launch it.
Certainly from a theoretical point of view, these conclusions are logical, and reasonably convincing. However, the world of computer and mobile malware, just like those who use computers and mobile devices, constantly defies the laws of logic. The likelihood of a user receiving and launching Cabir is equal to the likelihood of a user accepting and launching a file sent via email from an unknown sender. And yes, the file will be launched. The global worm epidemics of the past few years - Mydoom, NetSky, Sober - are evidence of this. Antivirus companies never tire of repeating 'Don't launch a file sent to you by mail without scanning it first'. But this doesn't seem to have had much effect - human curiosity, and a disregard for basic security always win out. So starts part 2, just to give you an idea of where this is heading.
Much of this half discusses locations and their relationships to different threats. It is a bit lengthy, but an interesting read.
Tag: mobile malware
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About the Author:
Chris Crum is a staff writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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