Fortinet isolates mobile worm

Security researchers at Fortinet Inc. have discovered a new worm spreading on various mobile phone networks over smart phones running the Symbian operating system.

The FortiGuardGlobal Security Research Team says the worm, called SymbOS/Beselo.A!worm, propagates over Nokia’s 6600- and N70-series phones, and may also run on other Symbian-based phones.

Derek Manky, security research engineer with Fortinet’s Vancouver research and development department, said he’s seeing new malware activity and trends as the Symbian operating system becomes more popular.

“Symbian is definitely a favoured platform,” he said.

The virus’s propagation routine is “not so unique, but effective,” Manky said. The user receives what appears to be a multimedia message — a jpeg or MP3 file — but is actually a Symbian Installation Source (SIS) file. Because the OS types files by content rather than extension, the SIS file can masquerade as something else.

“Add a little social engineering and it becomes very efficient,” Manky said. The files carry evocative names like “beauty,” “love” and “sex.”

When the user clicks the attachment, the install script runs. While the OS does display a warning message that it is not a trusted application and could cause problems, many users install anyway.

While it’s generally not necessary to install and application to play a multimedia file, many new users are folled. “An uneducated consumer might think that’s standard operating procedure,” Manky said.

Once installed, the worm harvests contact information from the phone and sends itself to those numbers. Oddly, it also generates a list of contacts — all numbers on one Chinese mobile carrier’s network — and sends itself to those phones.

“It seems to target certain numbers as well,” Manky said. But researchers are scratching their heads over why.

“That’s the behaviour that’s been observed,” he said. It’s actively under investigation, he added.

Would you recommend this article?

0
0

Share

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what you think of this article!
We'd love to hear your opinion about this or any other story you read in our publication.

Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

Featured Download

Dave Webb
Dave Webb
Dave Webb is a freelance editor and writer. A veteran journalist of more than 20 years' experience (15 of them in technology), he has held senior editorial positions with a number of technology publications. He was honoured with an Andersen Consulting Award for Excellence in Business Journalism in 2000, and several Canadian Online Publishing Awards as part of the ComputerWorld Canada team.

Featured Articles

Cybersecurity in 2024: Priorities and challenges for Canadian organizations 

By Derek Manky As predictions for 2024 point to the continued expansion...

Survey shows generative AI is a top priority for Canadian corporate leaders.

Leaders are devoting significant budget to generative AI for 2024 Canadian corporate...

Related Tech News

Tech Jobs

Our experienced team of journalists and bloggers bring you engaging in-depth interviews, videos and content targeted to IT professionals and line-of-business executives.

Tech Companies Hiring Right Now