Mobile phone worm poses no threat

Security software developer Kaspersky Labs claims to have discovered the world’s first worm that targets mobile phone users.

According to Kaspersky, the network worm - named Cabir - infects phones running the Symbian operating system and spreads via Bluetooth technology. Infected phones would display the message 'Caribe’.

But according to security firm Sophos, “Cabir poses as much of a threat to mobile phone users as a peashooter would to the US military”.

“The only way this virus looks like it will spread is by anti-virus researchers sending it to each other in their high security laboratories. Users probably need to be more concerned about the large number of malicious Windows worms spreading around via email and the internet at the moment,” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

"Of course, it's still a milestone because it's the first virus to really work on a mobile phone. But it has to be a mobile phone which has the Symbian operating system, and it has to be a mobile phone owned by someone who effectively wants to be infected," added Cluley.

Mobile phone users can protect themselves against Bluetooth threats by turning off the "visible to others" Bluetooth setting in their phones, which protects against being sent unwanted malicious programs or unwanted messages.