Expert: Mobile phone virus threat is overblown

Overton said he believes awareness of potential threats is not a bad thing, "but what isn't acceptable is scaremongering and hype."

"If you look at the viruses out there, currently there are about 14 core viruses, the majority of which are fairly benign. They are mostly developed as 'proof of concept' to warn manufacturers of handsets and operating systems or the antivirus industry about potential vulnerabilities," he said.

In fact, mobile phone viruses are so infrequent that when the BBC wanted to film one executing, it took Overton and his colleagues three days of searching the Internet just to find the code for one such virus.

"There are a few nasties out there which will do some damage, such as Skulls, which will destroy your phone," Overton said, referring to the Trojan horse that has been detected on some Symbian-based phones. He added that any real instances of infection are almost, if not entirely, nonexistent.

"These things will only infect complex operating systems, so already we're talking about only 4 percent of handsets," he said. "And unlike PC viruses, there is no back door. If a virus tries to launch on somebody's phone, they are going to get a warning that something is trying to do something to their handset."

Overton added that many proof-of-concept viruses require Bluetooth wireless to spread, which means their propagation is severely restricted.

However, as with PC viruses, he said, mobile phone viruses may well evolve and one day become an issue for more serious concern.

Security expert Bruce Schneier, chief technology officer at Counterpane Internet Security, believes mobile viruses and attacks shouldn't be discounted altogether, though he believes they aren't currently registering on any significant scale.

"We'll probably see more when mobiles are being used for finances," he said, suggesting attacks targeting micropayments could be a popular goal for virus writers, though they are probably still some way off. This echoed a comment from Matt Ekram, mobile security product manager at Symantec, who told CNET News.com: "We were surprised by the sheer number of people already doing transactions, disclosing confidential information or using online banking, and you can guess that is where the future attacks will be aimed."

Overton doesn't believe security fears will hamper the sales of smart phones. "I'd be very surprised if somebody downgraded their choice of phone based on virus and security fears," he said.

Will Sturgeon of Silicon.com reported from London.