Slightly OT: Mobile phone & Bluetooth virus threat
06-16-2004, 12:50 PM
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My Ride: G30 M550i
Model Year: 2018
Not trying to cause any panic since this is probably not going to affect any of us but imagine the future if these kinds of things become more widespread. I realize that this is a virus that infects phones and not cars but imagine if somehow someone wrote virus code that could somehow cause our cars to be infected!!
I know that that scenario won't likely occur but hopefully the engineers at BMW aren't taking anything for granted...
I know that that scenario won't likely occur but hopefully the engineers at BMW aren't taking anything for granted...
PRESS RELEASE
For release June 15, 2004
The first mobile worm Cabir proves a point, but causes no serious threat
Cabir, a Symbian OS worm discovered yesterday, has been confirmed to be the
first real mobile phone virus. Symbian OS is an open operating system, which
is used in data-enabled mobile phones of leading phone maunufacturers.
The Cabir worm runs in mobile phones that use the Symbian Series 60 user
interface platform. The worm is packed in a Symbian installation file (.sis)
and tries to spread further over Bluetooth. When installed in the phone, the
worm activates automatically and starts looking for new devices that use
Bluetooth. Once Bluetooth phones in discoverable mode are found, the worm
tries to replicate by sending itself to them. The worm activates, if the user
of the receiving phone chooses to accept and install the received file named
caribe.sis, which contains the worm.
Although the worm does not cause any immediate threat to phone users, it
clearly demonstrates the fact that technology to write viruses on mobile
devices already exists and is also known to virus writers.
"No incidents of Cabir spreading have been reported so far, but this worm is
nevertheless perfectly functional and able to spread if released in the
wild", Matias Impivaara, Business Manager, Mobile Security Services, at
F-Secure explains. "If a person with an infected phone was walking through a
city centre during the busiest afternoon jam, thousands of others could be
infected. Even when we tested this worm, we had to do it in the company's
bomb shelter in order to prevent the worm from connecting to other Bluetooth
phones and spreading", he continues.
Mobile malware incidents cause end user support load, terminal downtime,
negative customer experience, slow service adoption, and bad publicity. The
possibility of virus threats on mobile devices is increasing constantly when
more advanced handheld devices are introduced to the market. Also
unintentional harmful content and vulnerabilities in mobile devices are
causing more and more problems.
The emerging mobile virus threat calls for new measures from both the service
providers and users of mobile devices. Protection against harmful content
will be required on every terminal using an open operating system, but
smartphone users should not be troubled with security any more than is
absolutely necessary.
Operators, service providers and mobile device vendors are in the best
position to provide antivirus services for mobile phone users. Mobile phone
users themselves should be cautious about the threat and be careful not to
install any unknown applications.
The Symbian Series 60 version of F-Secure Mobile Anti-Virus detects the Cabir
worm and is able to delete the worm components.
F-Secure Mobile Anti-Virus is comprehensive solution for protecting mobile
terminals against harmful content. It provides real-time on-device protection
with automatic over-the-air antivirus updates through a patented SMS update
mechanism or HTTPS connections.
More information and screen shots of the worm installation and disinfection
are available at http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/cabir.shtml and
http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/.
For release June 15, 2004
The first mobile worm Cabir proves a point, but causes no serious threat
Cabir, a Symbian OS worm discovered yesterday, has been confirmed to be the
first real mobile phone virus. Symbian OS is an open operating system, which
is used in data-enabled mobile phones of leading phone maunufacturers.
The Cabir worm runs in mobile phones that use the Symbian Series 60 user
interface platform. The worm is packed in a Symbian installation file (.sis)
and tries to spread further over Bluetooth. When installed in the phone, the
worm activates automatically and starts looking for new devices that use
Bluetooth. Once Bluetooth phones in discoverable mode are found, the worm
tries to replicate by sending itself to them. The worm activates, if the user
of the receiving phone chooses to accept and install the received file named
caribe.sis, which contains the worm.
Although the worm does not cause any immediate threat to phone users, it
clearly demonstrates the fact that technology to write viruses on mobile
devices already exists and is also known to virus writers.
"No incidents of Cabir spreading have been reported so far, but this worm is
nevertheless perfectly functional and able to spread if released in the
wild", Matias Impivaara, Business Manager, Mobile Security Services, at
F-Secure explains. "If a person with an infected phone was walking through a
city centre during the busiest afternoon jam, thousands of others could be
infected. Even when we tested this worm, we had to do it in the company's
bomb shelter in order to prevent the worm from connecting to other Bluetooth
phones and spreading", he continues.
Mobile malware incidents cause end user support load, terminal downtime,
negative customer experience, slow service adoption, and bad publicity. The
possibility of virus threats on mobile devices is increasing constantly when
more advanced handheld devices are introduced to the market. Also
unintentional harmful content and vulnerabilities in mobile devices are
causing more and more problems.
The emerging mobile virus threat calls for new measures from both the service
providers and users of mobile devices. Protection against harmful content
will be required on every terminal using an open operating system, but
smartphone users should not be troubled with security any more than is
absolutely necessary.
Operators, service providers and mobile device vendors are in the best
position to provide antivirus services for mobile phone users. Mobile phone
users themselves should be cautious about the threat and be careful not to
install any unknown applications.
The Symbian Series 60 version of F-Secure Mobile Anti-Virus detects the Cabir
worm and is able to delete the worm components.
F-Secure Mobile Anti-Virus is comprehensive solution for protecting mobile
terminals against harmful content. It provides real-time on-device protection
with automatic over-the-air antivirus updates through a patented SMS update
mechanism or HTTPS connections.
More information and screen shots of the worm installation and disinfection
are available at http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/cabir.shtml and
http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/.
06-16-2004, 03:16 PM
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Don't be surprised. The whole compuer and internet community has been aware of these types of vulnerabilities for years, but have done nothing to stop them.
I'd like to see the old days back, where 20-year system administrators and system engineers were administrating and protecting our systems. This way, new versions of software would not be installed every 10 minutes without at least 90 days of full quality and vulnerability testing, in a very controlled environment.
Some people think the terminator is an impossibility. I believe we may be well on our way if we don't change the way we look at firmware.
I'd like to see the old days back, where 20-year system administrators and system engineers were administrating and protecting our systems. This way, new versions of software would not be installed every 10 minutes without at least 90 days of full quality and vulnerability testing, in a very controlled environment.
Some people think the terminator is an impossibility. I believe we may be well on our way if we don't change the way we look at firmware.
06-16-2004, 04:30 PM
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My Ride: G30 M550i
Model Year: 2018
Originally Posted by Guest' date='Jun 16 2004, 06:21 PM
I doubt the Bluetooth handsfree server side on the BMW side would EVER have any direct sw link to the rest of the car....
Oh panic, panic panic...
Oh panic, panic panic...
It's still interesting to think about the possibilities of future malicious code wreaking havoc on our cars.
06-16-2004, 09:00 PM
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Oh my! I have several Symbian devices using the Nokia Series 60 UI. I even have one with the Bluetooth debug stack (for development)... So far as I can tell, this "worm" does NOTHING other than send garbage data to bluetooth which in essence just causes Bluetooth to continue to "listen", hence the battery of the phone dies quicker. It DOESN'T provide ANY access to phone contents, destroy phone data, etc.
I love how the media have jumped all over this.
I can do the same thing on a WLAN hotspot by sending garbage data to another user
I love how the media have jumped all over this.
I can do the same thing on a WLAN hotspot by sending garbage data to another user
06-17-2004, 04:18 AM
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Originally Posted by NickP' date='Jun 17 2004, 05:00 AM
I love how the media have jumped all over this.
06-17-2004, 04:55 AM
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Did the media jump all over this?
(I haven't seen it anywhere except for the F-Secure press release I posted.)
It's clear to me that this virus was written simply to prove it can be done. That's pretty much how all the others started out too!
(I haven't seen it anywhere except for the F-Secure press release I posted.)
It's clear to me that this virus was written simply to prove it can be done. That's pretty much how all the others started out too!
06-17-2004, 12:15 PM
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Well I guess I spoke too soon. Here's an article from today in my local paper about this silly thing...