Virus created for Pocket PCs

Virus writers have found a way to exploit security holes in Microsoft's operating system for Pocket PCs and smartphones, it is claimed. According to security firm BitDefender Antivirus Labs, a virus writer only created the virus to demonstrate that devices running Microsoft Windows CE can be infected by malicious code. In order to run, the virus – called WinCE4.Dust - needs a mobile compatible device running Microsoft Windows CE operating system. The virus displays a message box, asking for user's permission to spread to other files. Last month, security experts claimed to have discovered the world’s first worm that targets mobile phone users. Named Cabir, it infects phones running the Symbian operating system and spreads via Bluetooth technology. BitDefender said the author of WinCE4.Dust - known as Ratter - created it as "not meant to spread" but just as "a proof of concept code". "The same as the creators of Cabir, the initiator of the Dust malware has not designed it to propagate on a massive scale, but rather to demonstrate that devices running Microsoft Windows CE can be infected by malicious code," said Viorel Canja, head of BitDefender Labs. "The code was first sent to antivirus experts instead of being released in the wild."