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| Sholeh Patrick |
First wireless worm found
The latest news out of Helsinki, Finland, is that worms come without wires.
Remember back when early cell phone users worried about brain damage? Experts concluded you can't get sick from gabbing too long, but the latest news is that your phone can.
Tech gurus confirmed this week the appearance of the first-ever cell phone virus, a wireless worm called "Caribe" that attacks users worldwide. Alfred Huger, senior director of engineering at Symantec (a major American producer of anti-virus products), says Caribe doesn't do harm, but calls the discovery "a wake-up call" that cell phones may be as susceptible as computers to nasty viruses down the road. For now, Caribe only invades phones with Bluetooth connections -- a system running in Symbian mobile phones used by several makers, including the popular Nokia.
The worm first appears as a text message with the word "caribe.sis". If the user clicks the message, Caribe then activates by replicating and looking for files to attach itself to, thereafter present every time the phone is on.
Caribe can't find a phone unless it's in "discoverable" mode, meaning it's ready to receive e-mail messages.
Once it has invaded, this worm can be removed. While Caribe is the very first cell phone bug, the industry apparently knew the day would come and has already developed anti-virus products to fix it. In fact, industry leaders already know who did this (the worm was originally announced Wednesday in Helsinki) and are communicating with its developers, who didn't send it "maliciously," according to Technewsworld online.
The whole idea that any virus is not "malicious" boggles my non-tech mind. OK, so these particular guys didn't want to ruin my cell phone; they just wanted to prove that they, or others like them, can.
So should owners be thankful for that? How about to the faceless virus developers who slow down my computer weekly as I get new viruses despite my software, firewall, and every other protection I'm advised to take?
It's hard to understand how people can get a kick out of figuring out new ways to cause problems for strangers; the only ones who seem to profit from it are the computer (and now cell phone) repair experts.
In any case, it's a reality we now face. Tech security firm F-Secure says the best way to prevent Caribe, or any other tech bug coming down the road, is not to have your phone set to automatic discovery/receive mode each time it's turned on; only use it when you need it. I don't even know how to access e-mail on my phone, so I hope for now my technical ignorance will protect me.
For more information about the wireless worm, contact your cell phone maker, or read about it at the federal site www.fcw.com and www.technewsworld.com.
Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. E-mail her at sholehjo@hotmail.com.22SORTIAe2stylAe''J0*
