Scratch
Here you will find older scratches, musings and other detritus that once were located on the front pages, but have now faded.
Filed away here to collect dust and cobwwwebs in perpetuity, links may break, facts may change and data may corrupt.
On occasion I may come down here to tidy, but for the most, I prefer to leave the past where it lies.
Bluetooth Worm
The worlds first Bluetooth worm has been discovered in the wild. EPOC.Cabir is a proof-of-concept worm written by 29a that replicates on Nokia Series 60 phones. There is no payload, apart from the vastly shortened battery life caused by the constant scanning for Bluetooth-enabled devices.
This worm repeatedly sends itself to the first Bluetooth-enabled device that it can find, regardless of the type of device (even a Bluetooth-enabled printer will be attacked if it is within range). The worm spreads as a .SIS (Symbian OS distribution) file, which is installed into the APPS directory.
However, given the worm requires two manual actions by the user before it can infect a device, accidental infection is remote. Kaspersky Labs personnel believe Cabir is unlikley to spread as those who possess bluetooth enabled devices, according to Kaspersky, tend to be more technically inclined individuals who don't click on anything and everything. (Cutting dig at PC users anyone?)
Certainly though, it should sound a warning to users of mobile technology throughout the world. Bluetooth technology has a number of documented vulnerabilities. Cabir proves it is possible to write a mobile phone virus which will propagate: the first program with a malicious payload is unlikely to be far behind.
For more information see here.
17 Jun 2004 8:28 | (0) comments | Technology