The Trojan horse combines several malicious mobile phone programs that work to spread over Symbian-based phones, antivirus-software maker SimWorks said in a release published Tuesday. The program, camouflaged as a version of the game "Metal Gear Solid," will disable antivirus programs, including SimWorks, as well as other programs, the company said. The attack also installs a version of the Cabir virus, which spreads through the Bluetooth short-range wireless protocol, the firm said.
To date, Trojan horses and proto-viruses aimed at smart phones have mostly failed to spread. In a few cases, Cabir.a has managed to jump from phone to phone using Bluetooth. However, Cabir's spread--and the spread of all phone viruses--is severely curtailed by the need for users to accept and install the programs.
One program, Skulls, would change all the icons on a phone to skulls, but also corrupt the phone's programs. In August, the Mosquito program drew little blood.
